School council

School Council – An Introduction

How did you get chosen as Council members?

Seven pupils– one pupil for each year – group – have just been chosen for the new School Council. Council members serve for one year, and liaise with Miss Glenister, the teacher representative.

Oak class (Reception and Year 1) pupils are not on the Council, but have two representatives from Willow class. The new members answered questions about the Council.

How do you (Suni and Katie, the representatives for Oak Class) find out what the Oak pupils want?

We’ll go into their classroom, and then we’ll ask them what they think, what they want to do. We have a meeting and discuss.

What happens if there are different ideas, and you don’t all agree?

         -  We have to be kind, and have to not fight about things.

         -  and that’s hard.

         -  We have to combine our ideas.

The first step is finding out which pupils are willing to stand on the Council. The next step is choosing the Councillors.

In Willow Class, our teacher put our names on the board and we all had to put our heads down (on the table) and when she said the name, we had to put our hand up and vote for that person.

But you can’t vote for yourself.

The process was different in Hazel Class:

We put the names (in a container) and scrambled them all up and picked one and then opened it and got chosen.

What does the Council do?

As the Council has only just been chosen, two previous members, Iris and Philippa, talked about the sleepover and car wash they helped organise last year.

We went round the classes and did a survey. We asked what things they wanted to do or improve. We came up with ideas and had to decide the place and time. We organised a sleepover (in the school hall) for Hazel Class because Year 5 and Year 6 pupils always did a residential at Kilve Court, but not Years 2, 3 and 4, so we wanted to get them ready for a residential. We asked Mrs Barnes for permission and asked the teachers to stay over. We wrote a letter for the parents. We wanted them to do activities like at Kilve Court so we watched a film, Max organised that, and we played games like Hide-and-Seek. I organised that. We did a car wash and raised money for playground equipment.

Do the new council have plans for this year?

Well, the first job that we are going to do is the playground. The older ones are fast at tag and the little ones just jog around and we might bump into them and hurt them.

In the morning play the Oaks go on there (the climbing frame) and in the afternoon it switches over so Oaks can’t go on there but Hazels and Willows can. It’s (year) 2s and under in the morning, and (year) 3s and above in the afternoon.

Why is it a good idea to have a School Council?

       -  Other children can come to council members with issues.

       -  Because we can have the children’s opinions.

       -  So that we know what the children want, not just what the teachers like.

       -  Teachers don’t always get what children want and need – children do.