School Council

What is a School Council?

A school council is a group of pupils who act as representatives of their classmates in discussing school issues with the headteacher and staff. It’s a brilliant way of representing and contributing to Pupil Voice in our school.

Why does Woodsetton School have a School Council?

There are lots of reasons for us to have a school council. Our school council provides a meaningful way in which our children can voice and express their opinions and have their views taken into account in decisions that impact upon them. Evidence and experience from schools all over the country shows that a school council that is supported and nurtured helps to improve many aspects of school life. It’s an important and useful way for our school to provide leadership and development opportunities for our pupils.

School councils are a great way for pupils to take on leadership roles, promote the voice of all of our children, problem solve and have an impact. A council serves as the voice for the entire school and actively works with teachers to promote a better learning environment.

A curriculum requires that pupils are provided with opportunities to participate in school and society. School councils are an excellent way in which to increase participation, exposing our children to and teaching them about democracy, local and global citizenship and accountability.

What does our School Council do?

Pupils have been elected to represent the views of all of our children and also to improve our school. Our councillors help to make decisions about how the school is run and take on projects that support children’s learning and development and improve our school. Our school councillors are elected annually by the other children.

Our school council does a number of things:

• Our school council meets with Mrs Gibbons once a month to discuss our ideas and share what we have been doing. We make decisions from our class input decide what we would like to do next.
• Members of the school council are responsible for sharing what we have discussed with their classes with support from their teachers.
• Each year, every class will normally elect one representative to be a member of the school council. Pathway 2 and 3 councillors help to support our Pathway 1 councillors so they can also be included.

What makes our School Council successful?

Our school council represents the views of all of our children and gets things done. These are some things that make our school council effective:

• Regular meetings.
• A council that is not too big.
• Feedback given to classes and ideas shared.
• Good communication between representatives and their class supported by our teachers.
• Pupils that care about our school.
• Pupils that are motivated to make our school; “happy, fun and amazing for everyone!”
• We always remember that ‘Every pupil matters, every moment counts’

Have a look at our school council board in school to see what we have been doing so far.