Raising Voices

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The Good School Toolkit is a school-wide intervention led by teachers, students and school-affiliated community members. Together, these teams work to influence the operational culture of the entire school through four entry points: teacher-student relationships, peer-to-peer relationships, student- and teacher-to-school relationships, and parent- and community-to-school governance relationships.

Raising Voices developed the Good School Toolkit for primary schools over four years through an iterative and consultative process involving six Ugandan primary schools.

The Toolkit is currently in its third edition, with an adaptation completed for use in secondary schools and another underway—Good School Toolkit Agile—for an abbreviated introduction to core concepts.

Through engaging school-level activities, leadership workshops, and user-friendly tools and materials, the Toolkit aims to change a school’s operational culture. The ultimate goal? To prevent violence against children by enhancing their experience of school.

Preventing Violence in Schools Across Uganda

A rigorous evaluation through a randomized controlled trial—the Good School Study—showed that the Toolkit reduced children’s risk of experiencing physical violence by school staff by 42 percent over 18 months of implementation. Bolstered by this evidence, the Toolkit is currently being rolled out at scale in Uganda in 23 districts, with Raising Voices supporting more than 1,000 primary schools.

The Government of Uganda has distributed Toolkit materials to more than 5,000 schools nationwide. Raising Voices supports these scale-up efforts through relationships with local governments within districts where the Toolkit is being distributed, as well as through dialogues with schools, governments and international partners interested in using or adapting the Toolkit.

The Toolkit Preventing Violence in Uganda

Districts in Uganda with Good School Toolkit

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How It Works

What is a “good school”? We believe it’s one with good teachers who increase student confidence and success, a learning environment that is safe and respectful, and a transparent, accountable administration. Our stepwise approach involves the entire ecosystem, including the parents and community members surrounding the school.

Six Core Steps

Cartoon Booklets

Good School Posters

The Toolkit’s Evolution

Raising Voices is committed to learning from implementation and strengthening all three versions of the Good School Toolkit.

Featured Series
Good School Toolkit - Primary

We started developing the Good School Toolkit in 2007 and published the first edition in 2011, focusing on primary schools. Since then, the Good School Toolkit has helped over 1,000 primary schools in Uganda embark on a journey to prevent violence against children. Both Raising Voices and outside researchers have rigorously evaluated the Toolkit, with more than 20 peer-reviewed articles published in academic journals. This implementation and evaluation have also led to the Toolkit’s expansion.

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Good School Toolkit - Secondary

The need for a healthy learning environment doesn’t end when students finish primary school. Based on our success with the Toolkit in primary schools and the demand for materials targeting adolescents, we published a rigorous adaptation of the Toolkit for secondary schools in 2020. Good School Toolkit - Secondary dives deeper into the issues that are more salient in later adolescence. It is already being used in 100 Ugandan secondary schools.

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Featured Series
Two students writing in notebooks
Good School Toolkit Agile

We are adapting the Toolkit for implementation at scale. The first iteration of Good School Toolkit Agile is currently being studied to refine and finalize it for wider distribution.

What is a "good school"?

SASA! In Action Around the World

In this five-minute video, three children talk about impact of violence on their lives and their hopes for a good school.

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All About the Toolkit

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Is the Toolkit a curriculum?
How much does it cost to use?
Can it be used in both primary and secondary schools?
Does Raising Voices provide technical assistance?

The Good School Toolkit isn’t a curriculum; it’s a process for creating violence-free schools. It breaks down what needs to happen into six steps that can be implemented by teachers, students and other stakeholders at schools. The Toolkit describes ideas, provides tools, suggests activities and helps you assess how you are progressing.

You can use it in your own way, at your own pace. If you need help using these ideas in your program or at your school, reach out to us!

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Explore Good School Toolkit - Primary

Explore Good School Toolkit - Secondary

Read the Good School Study

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