Taking action helps pupils to develop the following skills:

Communication

To effect change, pupils need to be confident in communicating with a wide range of people, whether raising awareness, campaigning or fund-raising. They need the ability to change the way they communicate with different demographics, and learn how to talk and write persuasively.

Creativity

Creativity is key to designing personal actions. Change often requires ingenuity and unique actions are more likely to be noticed.

Critical thinking

To take action, pupils need to be able to analyse complex issues and think carefully about all sides of a debate. They need to form a measured judgement about the issue and then thoughtfully articulate their viewpoint.

At different levels, critical thinking involves listening and asking questions, investigating and assessing different viewpoints, making informed decisions and ethical judgements, critically analysing information and handling complex issues.

Decision-making

Decision-making requires analytical thinking and leadership, as well as a willingness and ability to consider different possibilities and evaluate the consequences.

Organisation and planning

Pupils need to be able to organise time, resources and other people to ensure that the action they undertake works as intended.

Reflection and evaluation

After taking action, it is important that pupils learn to reflect on and evaluate what they have done. This ensures that their action has been beneficial to their own personal development  whilst providing learning for them to use the next time round.

Research

Effective action should be underpinned by good knowledge about the issue as well as an understanding of what will make their action work.

Teamwork and relationship-building

To take action, pupils need to be able to work together, building positive relationships and understanding how to interact with other people in a team.