PDMU Team 2010/2011 Daphne Wilson

Pupil Participation Class Councils The School Council Good Practice in NEELB schools

 We will discuss what pupil participation means and address the underlying principles (Session 1)  We will look in detail at one model of introducing a School Council, beginning with class councils(Sessions 2 and 3)  We will learn about other schools’ experiences of introducing School Councils (Session 4)  We will apply the learning to our own contexts and begin to plan for implementation (All sessions)

School Council – elected representatives and link teacher/Principal Year 1 class council (class representatives optional) Year 2 class council (class representatives optional) Year 3 class council and representatives Year 4 class council and representatives Year 5 class council and representatives Year 6 class council and representatives Year 7 class council and representatives

 Whole school participation  participation and involvement is ‘everybody’s business’  counters potential elitism and promotes equality  creates a powerhouse of ideas and views  two way communication between classes and the council  Building capacity in all pupils  all pupils need to learn how to listen, express opinions and back them up, work in groups, make good decisions, negotiate, and use secretarial skills - see School Council UK lessons  future representatives are being trained

 Promote the role and contributions of the School Council and Class Council to the class  Build in time once a month for class council meetings  Create space in the classroom where agendas, minutes, posters or other School/Class council material can be displayed or accessed.

Each teacher was encouraged to dedicate a small area of their room for class council business.

These lessons are taken from the School Council UK document entitled ‘ Key Stage One participation and school councils toolkit’.

 Structuring a meeting and the secretarial skills of constructing agendas and writing minutes – see booklet  Thinking and decision making -see Active Teaching and Learning  Values – respect, cooperation, listening – see slide21

Year 6 rules.

 Support annually to prepare the whole class and prospective candidates for elections, organize class or whole school voting  Make sure that the class representatives are well prepared for School Council meetings  Facilitate representatives reporting back to the class after Council Meetings. Reporting back should always take place as soon as possible after a School Council meeting.