Children's Voice
School council and committees
Our belief that children should be heard and their thoughts valued is formalised through our school council and a number of committees.
The school council is made up of representatives from Years 2 to 7 (aged 6 to 11) and has been in action for more than three years. The older children run all aspects including booking rooms, ordering a working lunch, chairing the meeting and writing minutes.
All classes have a school council book in which they can write ideas or issues they wish to be taken to a meeting. Topics discussed have included selecting school charities for the year, keeping the school cloakrooms tidy (which involved appointing a monitor), and providing new mirrors in the toilets.
Playground committee
This is a sub-committee of the school council and meets once or twice a term. The committee members also act as playground monitors, looking after the equipment and letting staff know if anything needs replacing.
Another important role they have is making sure younger children are happy. This is helped by the buddy bus stop – a bench on which children sit if they cannot find anyone to play with. Once there, the playground monitors know they are looking for friends and go to help.
Food committee
The food committee is the forum for discussing any issues about lunches. The children raise particular likes and dislikes with the chef and also have the chance to understand why things work as they do.
Eco committee
This is the newest of our school committees and grew out of a very successful eco committee in the senior school. It will maintain close links with the senior committee, sharing ideas about possible activities.
Already the children organise and run a regular paper collection service throughout the school for recycling. How this initiative develops will depend on the committee. Watch this space!