At Bantock Primary School, within our School Council, we aim to develop children’s confidence and responsibility, allowing children to make the most out of their abilities. We aim to allow children to SHINE, flourish and develop good relationships, respecting the differences between people and we want to give children a “voice”, to be able to share their views, opinions and ideas, about their school, learning environment and community, with others.
Our School Council work hard to ensure children have a safe, happy and fair learning environment, an area to voice their concerns and act upon them, a structured opportunity to learn problem-solving skills and an opportunity to take an active role in the organisation of the school (school fundraising events).
Our School Councillors represent the whole school. Each year, our classes hold elections so that different representatives can put forward their election speech, whereby one candidate from each class is voted for by their peers, to take up the role of being their classes’ voice.
This year, our school council worked hard to make changes that will help improve our school. Each session’s agenda is briefed by an allocated teacher, however discussions are pupil-led. It is the children’s responsibility to record minutes and key notes discussed. It is a very responsible job, as School Council members will share information with their class and get ideas and views from pupils in their classrooms.
Our first course of action, this year, was to allocate roles and responsibilities within the School Council and we agreed upon a school charter, which had been signed and agreed.
School council charter:
As a member of Bantock Primary School’s Council, I can promise to:
- Attend weekly school council meetings
- Communicate effectively with our class and other members of the school council.
- Listen to everyone’s opinions.
- Be respectful about people’s ideas.
- Be organised and prepared for every school council meeting.
SHINE!
The next course of action was to look at any issues we found within our community and school; the School Council identified pollution as a big issue. Therefore, the children decided to research pollution and the impact it has on our health and well-being. The School Council members decided it would be appropriate to include plants in our class, which will help reduce pollution and provide cleaner air. It was also suggested that we should not allow cars to be parked outside our school, when dropping off children in the morning. The cars were monitored by traffic wardens (not only to reduce pollution, but for safety purposes too).
After the School Council had decided on having plants in the classrooms, they researched various plants, identifying their benefits and which would be suitable for a classroom setting. Working collaboratively, the children created a ‘Plant Profile’ of the desired plant, highlighting the benefits of the plant, how to look after it and who is responsible for it. The School Council worked hard to ensure all could access the “Plant Profile” and differentiated the profile based on the children’s years.
A key role for the School Council is having an input in fundraising events for school. This year, during the pandemic, the children created a Children In Need day. The children based the event on Bantock’s birthday (celebrating its 20 years) and came up with activities that all children could participate in, whilst still following the strict social distancing rules. Each hour, the children would do 20x a sporting activity. Eg. Within the hour of 9am, children will complete 20 jumping jacks, within the hour of 10am, children will complete 20 spotty dog jumps. Etc. It was a very successful day and all children participated in it and we raised a good amount for Children In Need, considering financial difficulties during lockdown.
Finally, so far this year, our wonderful School Council created a podcast, updating all (parents, teachers and children) about the progress they made over the year, celebrating all they had accomplished and what they were proud of.