Student Council

Our School Council is an inclusive, structured forum for discussion and decision making that allows all students a voice in improving our school. It is a democratic council, with a fair election process conducted at the start of the Autumn term each academic year.

Each tutor group elects two representatives, they obtain views from their tutor group and feedback in Year Group Council Meetings. Three elected representatives from each year group then take the views of their year group to the Whole School Council.

The 5 Year Council’s will meet every 6 weeks and the Whole School Council meet once every month.

Members of the School Council have a responsibility to put forward the views of their tutor and year groups. Rather than just presenting their own opinions, students are encouraged to develop as effective leaders and ensure the voice of all students is represented. The Council members also ensure that feedback from the meeting is passed back to their year and tutor groups.

The School Council process gives students from all year groups' access to a number of different opportunities across the year including:

• Suggesting new ideas for rewards systems
• Suggesting new ideas for school trips
• Ideas for the continuous improvement pupil well being
• Delivering school campaigns
• Delivering school bulletin video news reports
• Giving feedback on attendance and providing ideas for rewarding and encouraging good attendance
• Carrying out polls across the school to gather feedback on various school issues
• Taking part in fundraising events
• Supporting community events
• Supporting YR6 Year Transition Evenings
• Participating in the interview panels for senior staff appointments including Deputy Headteacher and Assistant Headteachers
• Influencing and shaping the development of the school as a community
• Delivering assemblies
• Taking part in consultations
• Influencing the canteen menu
• Taking part in community projects

There are 3 influential student council teams

1. Action Team - This team decide upon the issues to be to be taken to communication meetings. This team consists of 22 members from the same year group.
2. Communication Team - This team is made of 2 representatives of each year group. The 10 year group members are responsible for sharing the voice and views of their year group at the full student council meeting.
3. Outcomes Team - This team consists of a Chair & Vice-Chair that will represent the communication and action teams at SLT and Governor meetings.

action team: Year Group Representatives

• One students is nominated from each form to represent the student council year group action team.
• Ten additional year group members across the year group will be selected from nomination to become part of the action team.
• Action teams consist of pupils from the same year group.
• In total, there will be 5 action teams (one for each year group) with 22 action team members. They will attend action group meetings every 6 weeks.
• Action team meetings will be chaired by an elected Chair & Vice Chair. In attendance there will be a Head of Year and the SLT year group link and will take place during registration.
• Action team representatives that are not attached to forms ensure that all pupils have fair access to the student council opportunities and to ensure that not all representatives are chosen purely on popularity. Being selected on popularity is an extremely valid process of election. All democracies elect their leader based on their popularity. However, to ensure that we have the opportunity to develop confidence, we, the student council, feel that it is also appropriate for students to be selected based on their potential and effectiveness too. This also to ensure that we have equality and diversity within our student voice and fair representation from all members of our school community.
• Re-election for new form representatives for 2019/20 will take place in September 2018

Communication team: Year Group Chair & vice Chair

• Two students that are elected from each action team will represent their year group at monthly communication team school council meetings.
• The communication team meeting will consist of two elected students (a chair & vice-chair) from each action team group.
• To be elected to the communication team the same process will be applied as with the form representative elections. One will be elected by their peers within the year group team and one will be selected by staff. This is, again, to ensure fair representation and to ensure that there is a diverse Whole School Council team.
• To be a communication team member you must also be an action team member.
• Re-election for the communication team for 2018/19 will take place during September 2018

outcomes Team: Chair & Vice Chair

• In addition, two members of the communication team are elected as the Outcomes Team and will be invited to the SLT meetings after each communication team meeting to present feedback from the council to senior staff
• The outcomes team will also by invited to an annual full Governing Board Meeting to to ensure that students are represented at the highest level within the school.
• At this stage, we feel it is only appropriate for the outcomes team to be elected solely by the communication team members only.