INTRODUCTION TO SCHOOL COUNCIL
The School Council is an important element of ‘pupil voice’ at our school. It enables pupils to share ideas and to raise issues and concerns.
How are School Councillors elected?
Each class has 2 representatives on the School Council, who are chosen by a democratic secret ballot of the members of their class. If someone is interested in being a councillor, they put their name forward then give a speech on why they will be a good School Councillor. The children in the class then vote for the pupils that they think will perform this role well. Once elected, each councillor has a School Council badge to wear on their uniform.
What happens in the meetings?
This group meets approximately fortnightly to discuss matters of concern to the whole school and to our wider community. The School Council representatives are an important link between the pupils in their classes and the adults at the school and ensure that key ideas and messages are communicated and discussed so that everyone is listened to and feels involved.
At the meetings, children make and vote for suggestions to make the school, and our community, a better place. School Council meetings are joined by Miss Hanoman-Singh, but run by the Chair and Vice Chair, who are Year 6 representatives, who have been voted for by the other school councillors. Notes are made in every meeting and fed back to the class.
Improvements the School Council has initiated
The School Council have been busy this year considering ways to enhance our school and to support projects in our local community. The representatives have collected ideas from their classes; discussed ways to fundraise and decided how this money should be spent. We have started a new project called “Whizz Kids and Wise Owls” which is a partnership between our school and a local residential home. Last term, our main focus was on raising money to create Christmas Cards for the residents so that we could introduce ourselves and brighten up their holiday season! These were greatly appreciated and we even got some Christmas cards back!
This term, through teaming up with the Eco Monitors, our focus is on “Robin Hood goes Green” – an initiative to raise awareness of being environmentally friendly and to donate proceeds to local charities that are trying to make our environment more sustainable and healthier for us all.