InvolverI have a lot more time on my hands now, what with School Councils UK making all staff redundant, so I’m starting this website to continue some of the work and keep my hand in with this field that I care so much about.
Obviously you’ll see how things develop, but if you’ve got any ideas of what you’d like to see here, leave me a comment.
Asher
The school council at Richard Coates School played a major role in promoting their anti-bullying campaign that led to them recieving this award. They felt it was very important to get the whole school involved as it is an issue that effects everyone.
An Anti-bullying week was organised and included a variety of activities from tutorials and quizzes to a performance demonstrating the efects of cyber-bullying.
The school is also very proud of its Peer Supporters where the older pupils help the younger pupils settle into the school. They also let the pupils know that they are always there if they ever need someone to talk to about bullying, or any other concerns.
“The uptake for Peer Supporter training is huge. Pupils are proud of their school and want to help everyone to continue to feel safe and happy.”
The award from Northumberland county council was presented to Daniel Hadfield, school council member.
Daisy
Primary school pupils from Budbrooke got the chance to speak to a man whilst he was hundreds of miles away in outer space, and then even better this week they got to see him in person and ask him anything they wanted, from what he eats to what he wears.
Better still this fantastic opportunity all started with a simple idea at a school council meeting. Then the pupils submitted an application to the NASA radio project, and from this they became one of four schools in the world able to talk to Mr Richard Garriott, space tourist.
The pupils had a fantastic time talking to Mr Garriott and it proves that school councils can make things happen far beyond the classroom.
Daisy
I got a call on Friday from a someone I hadn’t heard from for years. She and I used to volunteer doing youth work together. It turns out she’s now working on a BBC kids show called M.I. High (Official BBC mini-site; Wikipedia page). The school they film in had one of our posters up. The producer was about to rip it down, as they “didn’t have clearance to use it”, when Hannah said she thought she knew how to get it cleared. She made a quick call to me and now the kids at Saint Hope’s (spies or otherwise) get the benefit of a great poster promoting their school council! As it turned out the poster in question was one her brother had commissioned when he was working for School Councils UK!
Asher
The most telling question/statement at the launch of the Youth Citizenship Commission‘s final report came from a delegate representing the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), he suggested something along the lines of, “Wouldn’t it be ironic if the Government’s response to this report is to do nothing? What would that tell young people about the limits of their influence and citizenship?” All Government commissions run the risk of being ignored by Government, but the questioner was right, it would be particularly pointed if the recommendations of this report were not taken up. The findings of the Commission were that (like other groups in society) there is a disillusion with politics because young people do not feel they are listened to. Arguably what is worse than not being listened to at all, is being told you’ve got the chance to have your say and have an influence and then to have that views dismissed anyway. (I see this all the time in schools with school councils where there are boundaries to what they can do, but these are never discussed or communicated with the pupils, they are just told ‘No’ when that issue arises).
So, whilst I think the Commission has done a great job and made many important recomendations (not least about the need for standards for school and class councils), ultimately whether this has any real benefit will come down to the Government’s actions: inaction will be failure.
Asher
Asher and I went to the launch of the Youth Citizenship Commission’s Report in Westminster today. It was great to hear people talk about the value of school councils alongside class councils. The commissioners really understood the value of pupil voice and effective school councils, it was clearly expressed that pupil voice has to be respected and the young people involved need to be given real power in the school decision-making processes, otherwise the work can be disillusioning do more damage than good.
There was also a big mention for the School Council Standard, which is a project we are working on getting funding for at the moment – so a good morning for School Councils. It’ll be interesting to see what the Government does the Comission’s findings.
Vicky