Redefining Success
The School Programme
Seven weekly sessions for Year 6 pupils on what success means, and how to measure a good week by more than grades.
7
weekly sessions
1.5
HOURS PER SESSION
5
schools running it now
FREE
for every school
The question we started with
Before this programme existed, our founder, Sam Thomas, asked a question.
What if we've been teaching children the wrong definition of success?
Not any one teacher or parent. All of us, without meaning to. Through what we praise, and what we measure.
And children arrive in Year 6 already fluent in grades, likes and who has the most.
So the year before secondary school is the moment to give them something else to measure by. Before the pressure increases.
Thinking about it for
your school?
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Nothing. Schools are never charged. Sponsors and donations pay for every programme.
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Once a week, at the same time, for seven weeks.
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Seven sessions of about an hour and a half each.
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One of our trained facilitators, and the staff who know your pupils.
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Every facilitator holds an enhanced DBS check. And we agree the rest with you before we start: your policy, and who to call.
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Before the first session, we give you information to share with parents and carers.
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It's running in five schools now. The early signs, in the children's own words, are on our impact page.
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Yes — the head of our pilot school.
What a school gets
7 WEEKS
One session a week, at the same time each week.
Trained facilitators
Including former teachers. Every session in person, with your staff in the room.
A Success Journal
Each pupil keeps one for the seven weeks, and takes it home.
The adults, too
An optional session for parents and carers, and one for staff. So the adults know the words the children are learning.
The seven sessions
What success means to you. Why we're here, storytelling, and the check-in question, three words that start a conversation. The reverse bucket list. “Whypower” versus willpower.
Connection & foundations
1
Authenticity
2
Living by your own values, rather than social pressure. Confidence and self-belief, identity and social media. Tools for staying steady when friends push.
Fulfilment
3
What drives you from the inside, and what only looks good from the outside. Finding your own values, and meaning in ordinary days. Life values mapping, perspective shifting and “Finding the Gold”.
Balance
4
School, friends, family, health and fun, and how no single one should take over the rest. Progress over perfection. Learning to sit with a feeling. The LIFE pizza wheel. Gap versus gain.
Presence
5
Noticing when you're on autopilot. Distraction, negative thought loops, and what to do with them. Slow breathing and noticing exercises, listening without interrupting, and a habit tracker.
Relationships
6
The four people closest to you, and what makes those relationships good. Conversation skills, and the check-in as a habit.
Bringing it together
7
Linking all Five Pillars, a personal success blueprint, and a plan for secondary school and beyond. The comfort-zone stretch. Failure as growth.
The Success Journal — pupils keep it across the seven sessions.
Optional add-ons. Parent workshops and staff training, to embed the change beyond the seven sessions.
Delivered with: Life Education and Max Marshall, bringing techniques that build emotional intelligence and resilience.
Cost to schools. FREE.
Starting with
Year 6
Redefining Success is running in five schools now, all in Year 6, the year before secondary school.
And as Different Hats Foundation grows, we want to bring it to other age groups too.
Because if children learn what success means from all of us, we can all help them think about it differently.
“SUCCESS IS LIVING TRUE TO WHO YOU ARE. DOING THINGS THAT MATTER,
WITH PEOPLE THAT MATTER."
Sam Thomas
How to take part
Email Sam at sam@different-hats.co.uk with your school's name and the year group you have in mind.
We'll talk it through with you.