Student voice ideas and projects

Last week I ran a training course for ASCL on student voice: Student voice beyond school councils

I asked all the delegates to list as many student voice ideas, initiatives and projects as they could, both those used in their schools, and others that they had heard of. This is the list they came up with. I provided the five headings, but I did not offer a specific definition of what ‘student voice’ is. You might find it useful to prompt discussion in your school and give you some ideas for how you could expand student voice. Below the list I offer a bit of analysis of some of the methods.

Teaching and learning

• Learning walks to other establishments
• 1st week of Scheme of Work is planning the scheme with the students
• Student curriculum panels
• Student governors
• Students as researchers
• Students into lesson programme
• Peer teaching
• Student interviewers
• Part of departmental review/visits
• ‘My World’ Project-based learning, completely self-directed with vivas
• Drama in Education Theatre Group [Reaction] help organise + deliver assemblies, e.g. work experience/bullying
• Student appointment panels
• Reading: peer mentors – Y10 top set English used to support low ‘reading age’ students in Y7 + Y8 x 30 mins per week in library
• Policy consultation
• Mini ‘Insted’ – termly
• Peer mentoring
• Golden lessons
• Lesson feedback + surveys
• Student researcher: what makes a good lesson?
• Student mentoring
• Student-led mentoring
• Students used to observe and score candidates’ presentations during SELECTION PROCESS
• Student mentoring Y12 pupils mentoring Y10
• Reading pairs
• Pupils to observe lessons and give feedback
• Students involved in departmental meetings discussing teaching and learning issues
• Student council
• Learning council
• Student SEF
• Homework review: regularity, consistency, quality, use of school system
• Lead learners – student observers
• Student lesson observations
• Student voice questionnaires in department learning reviews
• Student interview panel
• Language champions
• Student receptionist
• Digital leaders
• Pupils as observers
• Debating society
• Student involvement in lesson observations and feedback
• Student learning exchange visits
• Student panel involvement in staff reviews
• Student voice panel on all staff interviews
• Learning walks, possible to use students
• Student panel involvement in departmental reviews

Environment

• Ground Force group
• Looking into solar energy
• Consultations for colour schemes for school
• Keeping an eye on what needs doing
• Chickens
• Community voice reps
• Enterprise reps
• Students working with school interior manager to update displays around the school throughout the year
• Key stage toilets
• Eco school
• Student marketing and branding group
• School council influence on things such as uniform, dinners, toilets
• BeMAD (fundraising group)
• Tree planting
• School council
• Charity reps
• Recycling

Relationships

• Peer mentoring support groups
• Anti-bullying support
• Students running societies – e.g. politics society, debating
• Student tours for visitors
• Partnership with local schools’ council
• Meet and greet/guides at open evenings and for visitors
• Subject prefects – helping with activities involving younger pupils
• Volunteer council
• Student ambassadors
• Working with primary students – sports leaders + dance leaders
• ‘Pay it forward’ council
• Promoting the school – 6th Form student ambassadors (this also generates feedback)
• Confidential clinic
• Health and safety society (leads to STI presentations)
• Peer mentors – Blue Guardian Angels – used to support younger students with emotional issues, behavioural issues or bullying
• Student senior leaders + SCT meetings
• Links to town council – chambers for meetings
• Rights Respecting Schools
• Peer mentoring

Behaviour

• Behaviour for learning group
• Student duty staff
• Pulling pupils out of detention to discuss areas within student voice – gauge their opinion
• School policies: uniform, bullying, etc.
• Development of anti-bullying policy
• Peer mentors – restorative justice
• Development of behaviour policy
• Students given specific duties to monitor behaviour at break and lunch times
• Anti-bullying strategies, e.g. poster competitions/campaign, anti-bullying group
• House system – vertical groups mean highest level students can assist younger pupils, e.g. UCAS admissions

Other

• Fair trade
• Involved in school and student liturgy groups (Catholic school)
• Representation at Town Remembrance Service
• Peer support
• VLE: setting up a student voice forum
• Ideas – feedback on student menus
• House captains
• Open evenings/parents evenings: front of house, tours, speaking
• Shadow governors
• Student council
• Student interview panels for higher TLR posts
• Big Idea reps
• Involved in staff appointments
• Young Enterprise
• Charity/fundraising
• Student governors
• Citizenship Award: For student in Y10 who has taken his/her own initiative to support the school. Focus decided by student.
• Primary school links: language, citizenship, PE, etc.
• Meeting VIPs
• Visiting speakers
• 6th Form partnership group
• Fundraising
• On-line Agony Aunt
• Youth Parliament
• Front desk
• Sports leaders
• Naming student voice as ‘The Voice’ (also a singing contest pupils like).
• Non-uniform days for charities
• Sub-committees for various issues (Buildings & Environment, Relationships & Behaviour, Learning & Teaching, Events & Fundraising)
• Young chamber
• Links with local youth council and local area action group
• SNAG: School Nutrition Action Group
• Youth Parliament
• Prefects involved in charity/local fundraising and activities
• International school
• Working groups: Environment, Website, Canteen, Fundraising & Events
• Student guides

Analysis

The first thing that struck me was simply how many ideas were under the ‘teaching and learning’ heading. A few years ago very few schools even saw this as an appropriate issue for school councils and student voice to touch on. During our discussions throughout the day it was also clear that it was the area that all of the teachers in the room wanted students to be able to have more of an impact on.

The methods suggested demand a little more examination though. This is not my list and I would not suggest any school should be doing all of these things (I don’t even know what all of them are) but most are worth a go. However, whilst there are many very good ideas here, I wouldn’t classify all of them as ‘student voice’. I think a distinction should be made between ‘student leadership’, ‘students given responsibility’ and ‘student voice’. All can be useful but confusing them can have unintended consequences for learning.

Having students as receptionists, showing people around the school and presenting at conferences is excellent: the students learn skills, and better understand how the school works, the school demonstrates its ethos of putting young people at its heart and the guests/visitors/delegates get a different perspective on the school. Everyone wins. Unless you tell the young people that this is their way of having a say in how the school runs, in how they learn, because it’s not. It teaches them that you (and by extension others in power) don’t know how to listen and don’t care to give them the appropriate opportunity to be heard. That’s not a good thing for your school, or society as a whole.

It’s somewhat similar to the experience of the Games Makers at the Olympics. They were integral to its success and thousands of them gave their time gladly and were rightly proud of the part they had played. If they had been recruited with the promise that they would ‘have a say’ in how the Games was run would they have been so happy to turn up on day two when it became clear on day one that their job was just to point people in the right direction?

So be clear about the opportunities available to students, why they are valuable, what they will get out of it, what they can contribute, but don’t over-promise.