Links to Ofsted, British Values & other links..

The culture of wellbeing has the potential to boost attainment. Similar programmes and initiatives have demonstrated a link to improved academic outcomes (Banerjee, Weare & Farr, 2014), and we also know that pupils who experience poor mental health during their GCSEs are five times less likely to secure five GCSEs graded 9-4 (National Centre for Social Research, 2021.) Emoco helps to remove this barrier to positive attainment.

Emoco supports pupils to not only find their voice, but see the value in how articulating their thoughts can have a positive impact on their school and the World more broadly.

Emoco is a practical, real-life situation where pupils must articulate their ideas, communicate them to others, and, ultimately, contribute to a collective vision for a culture of well-being.

One of the most prominent impacts of Emoco is building pupils confidence. Pupils who have taken part have testified that they are much more confident using their voice to have a positive impact on the World. Two formerly disengaged young people who took part grew in confidence so much they attended the 2023 Blackpool Big Education Conversation and articulated their visions for change directly to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, which school staff testified they wouldn't have been able to do prior to working on Emoco. At another school, Emoco literally helped a selectively-mute pupil find their voice through the arts. You can read more about this in the "Our Impact" section.

In a co-production process, pupils will inevitably come into contact with different points of view that may conflict with their own. They will have to discuss & debate ideas of different people, and defend their own points of view.

The ultimate goal is that they will come to see conflicting views not as a problem, but rather, as a strength of a collective, and that each person's perspective is a piece of a puzzle. This means they are more likely to respect the individual liberty of others to express themselves and live their lives how they wish.

A co-production process involves assembling a diverse range of people, with a diverse range of views, and successfully, effectively, and respectfully navigating disagreements to reach a consensus.

Emoco's co-productive values teach young people that a difference of opinion, beliefs, or perspectives isn't a bad thing. Rather, it's actually a strength, as each different perspective forms part of a wider jigsaw and, when put together, creates a holistic, beautiful image.

Emoco is a democratic process, and encourages young people - as well as all members of the school community - to display active citizenship. To play an active role in creating the school they want to see.

One young person who took part in Emoco testified that they have much greater confidence in their own voice now, and that they're more likely to speak up when they see an injustice in society, demonstrating how Emoco has helped foster a sense of active citizenship amongst the young people it has worked with.

Emoco is founded on intergenerational relationships. Change moves at the speed of trust. Emoco fosters positive relationship-building between young people, staff, and parents/carers - with the potential to heal rifts and prevent conflicts from arising between different groups of the school community.

We know staff are increasingly - and rightly - worried about the growth in violence and abuse directed at teachers. Emoco plays a part in addressing this by creating the sincere respect between all members of the school community, making such instances less likely to occur.

Our work at St. Mary's and Highfield, which you can read about on our impact page, provides insight into how Emoco has fostered positive relationships between staff and families.

At St. Mary's Catholic Academy, Emoco strengthened relationship and dialogues between leaders and staff particularly well, with staff testifying as to how they feel their relationship with the school leadership is even better now. You can hear more about this in St. Mary's Emoco podcast episode, which you can access via the "Our Impact" section of the website.

Emoco aims to foster a strong sense of community within a school, bringing the whole-school community together in a meaningful, co-productive form to all collaborate on creating a school they want to see.

Emoco creates a forum wherein leaders can engage directly with an intergenerational cross-section of their school community and supports them to build an understanding and awareness of the needs of their school community.

Leadership is ultimately a collective endeavour. Emoco creates a unique opportunity for leaders to utilise the collective wisdom of their whole-school community to create a culture of well-being where everybody thrives.

Emoco offers pupils a real-world problem-solving experience. Through taking part in Emoco, pupils develop communication, teamwork, and relationship-building skills - all key, transferable skills valued by employers! Upon request, Emoco will also produce certificates of achievement and skill development to help learners evidence the educational value of the work they've done with us for years to come.

Emoco boosts ownership and belonging amongst the whole-school community - including learners - meaning they take more pride in their school and are more likely to hold generally positive attitudes to their education, as they feel part of a genuine, sincere learning community.

Emoco also helps to boost pupils' resilience by giving them experiences of success they can recall in hard times, proving to themselves that they have the ability to do great things.

One of Emoco's most consistent impacts is building resilience in the young people who take part. You can read about how Emoco boosted the resilience of young people in the our impact section of the website.

All schools will understand that poor mental health is one of the biggest drivers of the attendance crisis (Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition (2023) Written evidence (PA0130) House of Commons Education Select Committee). To bring learners back into the classroom, it is imperative that we create psychologically safe spaces that are accessible for and inclusive of everybody.

A large part of Emoco's role will be to help schools harness the collective wisdom of their whole-school community to do this, unlocking practical insights as to how your school can do this.

Emoco aims to create a school community, environment & culture which everyone - including learners - have ownership of.

Emoco believes that another large part of tackling the attendance crisis involves co-creating an educational experience pupils really want to have. It is logical to believe that this, in turn, would then increase attendance.

Emoco is proven to be a fantastic extra-curricular activity! One of Emoco's most prominent impacts is the way it builds pupils' confidence. Two formerly disengaged young people who took part in the project grew so significantly in confidence that they were able to articulate their vision for change directly to then-Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson at our 2023 Big Education Conversation in Blackpool. This has been continually reinforced in Emoco's work at other schools, with pupil testimonies consistently demonstrating growth in confidence. You can read more about this in the "Our Impact" section of this website.

Emoco also helps young people learn how to be healthy, particularly with regards to mental health. At St. Mary's Catholic Academy, Emoco led to the "Big Walk and Talk" and the "Big Wellbeing Conversation", which saw timetabled time offered to young people to exchange - both with their peers and staff - knowledge around how to look after ourselves and others.