School Council

Our School Council aims to give children opportunities to:

• To hear your views and make sure everyone has an opportunity to share their opinions in a democratic way

• To give you opportunities to lead, make changes and be driven to make things better for others

• To have time to talk and further reflect on current issues, our values and our curriculum

• To consider how we can keep everyone safe and happy at Galmpton

• To ensure British values of justice, democracy, rule of law, respect, liberty and tolerance are always evident in our school

Why?

Developing character through our personal development programme is an integral part of our currciulum. The School Council is made up of every pupil. We want our pupils to benefit the whole school and the wider school community. We also want our pupils to understand and be aware of wider current issues and have an understanding of what life is like in other areas of the UK and the wider world. This is an important part of a child's education at Galmpton. We hope that through our School Council and class council work we can develop pupils' ability to embrace difference, develop empathy and understanding and be ready to take a stance where injustice exists. We believe that everyone can benefit from the work of the School Council.

Our School Council gives pupils the experience of:

Planning, organising and delivering sessions around a range of ideas and issues
Speaking and listening skills, especially disagreeing respectfully
Debating skills
Mediation and negotiating skills
Safeguarding and wellbeing issues

Our School Council aims to prepare our pupils for citizenship by teaching them about roles, rights and responsibilities within the school system.

Organisation:

Two Y6 representatives lead the classes
All classes including EYFS take part in school council sessions
Each session is also supported by an adult
School council meetings take place every other week on a Wednesday at 2.45pm
A termly agenda is organised with the Y6 leaders, but maybe adapted if there is a shared agreement
Children's views and the content of the meetings are kept by the Y6 leads
Y6 leaders meet regularly with the council lead and the headteacher

The Y6 school council leaders have a very responsible job, and School Council Members will share information with their class, and get ideas and views from pupils in planning sessions.

Giving Feedback to Pupils:

We have a school council board in school where photos of the most recent meeting and school council journals are displayed. The agenda for the term is also displayed and pupils are also given space to raise any issues that they might want to see on the agenda. Following the School Council Meeting, Y6 leads speak to their class to let them know what is going on and tell the class about the issues being discussed and what is happening next. This will encourage more children to contribute to further meetings, share worries and let members know the things which could be done to improve the school. The school records School Council Achievements on the board and in the Galmpton newsletter as and when appropriate.