Stanway Fiveways School Council
Who sits on the school council and why do we value the pupils' voice at Fiveways?
What is a school council?
A school council is a formal group of pupils within a school who are elected by their peers to represent them and their views. At Fiveways, pupils are taught about democracy and give speeches and campaign actively to be elected to the position.
Why have a school council?
There are many reasons to maintain an active school council.
Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) says that children and young people should have a say in decisions that affect their lives. A school council can provide a meaningful way in which pupils can voice their opinions and have their views taken into account in decisions which impact upon them.
Experience from schools across the country, and further afield, shows that a school council that is supported and nurtured helps to improve many aspects of school life.
It is an important and useful way for schools to provide leadership and development opportunities for their pupils. Pupils are encouraged to work alongside school leaders to make important decisions and to influence school policy. Most recently, our school council worked with school leaders to review and update the school's behaviour policy. They were activiely involved in the developent of the 'Five Ways to Be' values and have helped to promote these with the wider school community.
Within the school curriculum, one of the key areas making up the ‘Learning for Life and Work’ theme is active participation. The curriculum requires that young people are provided with opportunities to participate in school and society. Our School council provides an excellent way in which to increase participation, teaching our young people about democracy, local and global citizenship and accountability.
Each year, our school council visit parliament and meet with our local MP to discuss local issues and wider issues across the country. The pupils always enjoy meeting their local MP and asking lots of questions about the role of MPs and how we can continue to work together to ensure that our local area, and the wider world, continue to be the best that they can be for all of us.