Our School Councils
Student Council Mission Statement
“Together we will make our schools a better place and make everyone feel included. We will show and teach others how to respect our schools, The Federation, and community.”
Why do we have school councils?
A School’s Council is an ideal opportunity for pupils to get more involved in the way our school are run; it is after all their schools. We respect and value the thoughts and opinions of our children and whilst it may not always be possible or practical to do everything they suggest, the children do have some fantastic ideas and are able to accept why some ideas may not work well for our school communities.
The School Councils benefits the whole Federation, each school, pupils and teachers, because it provides opportunities for pupils to communicate their feelings as well as influence decisions that are made within each school.
Councillors develop skills such as confidence, communication and negotiation. It is the responsibility of each Councillor to ensure that they express both their own views and the views of all the other pupils they represent.
Who would make a good school councillor?
Any child in the school can stand to be a school council representative for their class. It is not a decision made by teachers. A good school councillor needs to have some of the following qualities:
- A good listener and speaker
- A team player
- Interested to learn more about our schools
- Keen to make a contribution to improving our schools
- Able to represent the views of others in your year group
- Able and willing to speak to your class about the Council
- Willing to give up some of your own time to this post
- Has lots of good ideas
- Sets a good example to others
Who can be a member of the school councils?
Anyone!
We have a School Council with boys and girls representing their fellow pupils from each class from Year 1 to Year 6.
Each councillor is elected by their classmates at the beginning of the school year after a short presentation explaining why they should be elected. This develops children’s understanding of one of British values: democracy. They also understand that with democracy comes responsibility.
What Do We Do?
Members of the Council take part in discussions and votes and also feedback any relevant information to their class. At times they are requested to ask their class for ideas or take class votes relating to discussions by the Council.
Thinking of Others
One of the things our School Councillors take action on is finding ways to support others in the community. This year our families were asked to donate dried and tinned foods at Harvest time. We then delivered these kind contributions to a local food bank, the 2 Rivers Community Pantry.