Last week I got an email from a teacher at a school I’d run training at recently (which shall remain nameless). We’d had a great day, the school council had come up with a real range of projects and great ways to communicate with the rest of the school. Unfortunately the email was not to tell me how well the students were getting on, but about the negative reactions from school staff. When minutes from the meeting were sent our staff comments ranged from sarcastic to deeply concerned. The posters the school council had put up explaining what they were working on were even taken down.
The school council co-ordinator asked me for advice. I’m sure she’s not the only one facing these problems, so I thought I would share what I told her with you. There isn’t a quick fix of course, but here are three things I suggest:
1. Explain the role of the school council
Make it clear to staff that the minutes are not what is going to happen, but what the students are taking on. In many cases they share the concerns of the staff and want to work with them to sort them out, that’s why their first step is often to meet with the relevant staff member. It’s not for staff members to give a straight ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but to ask the students what the students will do to make this happen. For example, if students want more trips they should be told they need to organise them. They will need help with this and they won’t have access to the money, but it’s not for the staff member to do all the running, the whole point is getting students to make happen those things they are keen on. Students need to be clear in their own minds and especially in anything they commit to paper on the difference between what they are DOING and what they are ASKING FOR. What they are DOING will happen (with their effort) what they are ASKING FOR may not.
2. Minutes detail students’ plans of action
Project planning notes made by pupils at a recent primary training day.
Ensure that what goes into the minutes is what actions the students will take. This way staff (and others) can see that these are issues of concern to students and that they are doing something about it. It helps where the minutes say more than ‘Meet with Ms X’, but also record what students are intending on suggesting, i.e. how they will help. The ‘school council ideas form‘ should help with this – the last section asks what the person filling it out will do to help – make sure no ideas come to the meeting without something here. Ensure those actions are clearly recorded in the minutes.
3. Attach prep work to the minutes
Something else to consider is the detail of the minutes. If either of the staff members mentioned above had seen the whole discussion they would know that the issues they raised were discussed. I suggest these very brief minutes as I think in general most people don’t read long minutes and it’s difficult for the secretary to take part if they are trying to record everything. However they don’t cover the detail of the discussion. Maybe if the ideas forms or project plans were attached to the minutes it would help those not at the meeting to see the thought that had gone into it without increasing the burden on the secretary.
Do you think these ideas might help in your school? Have you done anything else that has worked?
As you might expect, as someone really interested in education, schools and community I’m a school governor. One of the things I’m doing in that role currently is thinking about how we make new governors feel supported and able to play a constructive role as soon as possible. So I’ve started re-writing our governor induction pack – this is basically a welcome pack for new governors. It’s lead me on to thinking about not just what information we give to new governors, but what mentoring and training we need to give them and what we need them to do to make the most of it.
You need to create a guide for your school on how new school councillors can do a great job representing their peers and making things happen. You might want to include one of these for some ideas on your roles, collecting ideas and running meetings. Please excuse the shameless plug ;)
It occurred to me that new school councillors could do with a similar sort of pack and that getting current school councillors to write it would be really useful to get your new school council off to a flying start next year.
Below is the process we are going through and how I think it could work for a school council.
Get together a small group of current school councillors – ideally some who have been on the council for a while and some who are new.
Write down a list of all the things you wish you had known when you became a school councillor.
Write down a list of all the support that you have found useful in your role as a school councillor.
Add in any support that you would have liked but didn’t receive.
Write a short document (no more than a page) that will be the cover of your induction pack. This should tell new school councillors what support they will get and list all the useful information that you will put in the welcome pack. We have organised under these headings, they might work for you too:
What we’ll do to support you (the new school councillor)
What we need you to do
The documents attached (that will help you to understand your role and how our school and school council works)
Useful websites (or other sources of information)
Now you’ve got to collect all that information together and work out whatever training, mentoring, etc. you have said you will provide.
Do you already have a school council welcome pack? What is in it or what would you put in it if you had one?
The key issue for school councils is how they involve the whole student body. Not just once a year when representatives are voted on, but on an on-going basis, throughout the year.
For me the core of the answer is in class meetings. Through these every student in the school can be listened to, given a chance to speak and become involved. Not all will want to, and many won’t very often, but the fact that it happens regularly, for everyone makes a huge difference. It is clear that the school (and the school council) are there for you when you need it, and is actively trying to involve you.
Transferring responsibility in secondaries
In secondary schools having these meetings is often seen to be harder than in primaries. The timetable is more prescribed, students move around and swap groups during the day, and so on. Last week when this issue arose at a training session I asked about the class meetings in the teacher’s school. He said that they had got rid of them because they couldn’t rely on the 72 form tutors to run them and pass on the messages. I’ve heard this from so many schools and it makes me sad to think about what this says to the students about how much their form tutors value their opinions. It raises questions of management too, but we’ll leave that to another time.
To me it seems that this is a problem that could be avoided. This shouldn’t be the teachers’ responsibility, it should be the class reps’. They should each have a simple page to assist them to run a class meeting. It lists decisions made, questions to be asked and a space for raising new issues. This makes sure that every class in the school is involved in the discussions of the school council. All the teacher needs to do is ensure that every other Friday 15 minutes of form time is given over to the class rep (as stated in the school council policy).
So I suggested this to the delegates at the training event. They liked the idea and of course asked whether I had a template for this. “Of course,” I white-lied, “I’ll send it out to you all next week.” So this morning I transferred that template from my head to the computer.
Free template
You can download a PDF or a Word version below. There are instructions for the class rep on the sheet itself. Instructions on how to fill it out are at the bottom of this page.
I would suggest you take the Word version and then you can type directly in to it. This is how it needs to be filled out (I say ‘school council’ below but it could be any meeting that is being reported back from, such as a year or house council):
In Section 1 you should put the decisions that were taken at the school council. Keep it succinct but clear, as the rep will just read this section out.
You should just be able to copy the ‘Issue’ from your minutes.
The ‘Action/Decision’ should also be from your minutes, so wherever possible it should be an action: WHO is going to do WHAT by WHEN.
The ‘Reason’ is where you can add some explanation. For example, ‘There was general agreement on this from across the school’; ‘There isn’t the money to do this at this time’
In Section 2 you should write the question that the school council wants to ask the whole school. Make the question clear and simple, so you are sure everyone across the school understands it as written.
Depending on the question, you may find it useful to add some options for classes to select from.
You should leave section 3 blank, this is where ideas from the classes are written down.
You then need a system for collecting and collating these sheets. It could be that they are all handed in to the office straight after form time to be collected by the school council secretary later.
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.
Type
(Asher’s) definition
Examples
Learning opportunities
Students given responsibility
Students are asked to carry out duties that someone else has defined.There is little or no opportunity for them to change what these duties are.
Monitors
Prefects
Student receptionists
Guide for visitors
Sports captains
Peer mediators
Skills for a particular job
Learning how the school functions
Responsibility
Mediation
Being a role model
Student leadership
Students take on a leadership role in issues that do not affect the core business of the school or their community.These roles are not initiated by students, but they may be quite self-directed in the way they fulfil them.
Fundraising for external charities
Student mentoring
Debating society
Student ambassadors
Running after-school clubs
Sports/drama/arts leaders (who just assist the teacher)
Being /having positive, young role models
Planning
Organisation
Presenting
Developing responsibility and independence
Student voice – individual
Students are asked, as individuals, to feed in to the decisions made about them in school.
Surveys
Feedback forms
Polls
Individual, self-directed study
That students’ views and opinions are valued
That staff are keen to continue improving and learning
Student voice – democratic
Students are asked to collectively feed in to decisions made about the core business of the school (T&L, buildings, behaviour, policies, rules)This needs to involve some level of discussion, collaboration, negotiation and compromise. It is not simply passing on 1200 views, but coming to some shared positions.
School councils (backed by an effective, whole school structure)
Students as researchers group
Student governors
Student sub-committees
Compromise
Negotiation
Responsibility
Understanding of how the school works
Being a representative
Organisation
Communication
Planning
That students’ views and opinions are valued
That staff are keen to continue improving and learning
Here’s the final case study in our series of school council case studies. A great example of how school councils can drive school improvement from Barming Primary in Kent.
Key benefits:
Better relationships between students, teachers and governors. There is a strong feeling that they are all working together and the school council helps the school to achieve this.
Every student wants to have a say in how the school runs and school councillors have a high profile.
Students are better prepared to understand and overcome difficult issues. They learn that that helping to improve the school is not always easy and quick, and that it is not just about moaning. For example, the school council are concerned about the relationship between students and the dinner ladies. They have organised a meeting to try to improve things.
Top advice:
Link the students with the governors. Put a standing item on the governing body’s agenda to look at the school council’s minutes and to hear from the children.
To strengthen this link, ask a member of the governing body to be responsible for going to school council meetings. It helps give everyone a rounded experience of the school by sharing different perspectives.
As headteacher, do not attend school council meetings. Students will be less frank and less willing to say what they feel. The headteacher at Barming Primary School meets after each school council meeting with the chair, secretary and treasurer to understand what was agreed and discussed.
Do not shy away from difficult issues, but use them as learning points for all.
Give the school council a budget. Even if it is small, it shows a commitment to the school council and their ability to make realistic choices.
Methods used:
School council
The school council meets regularly and plays an important role in the life of the school. School councillors have a high profile and feature on a prominent display in the school hall. The school council is very popular and the school councillors talk with pride when they discuss what they’ve been working on.
Recent projects include getting more signs in the school to help students know where they are going, mirrors in the school toilets and the relationship between students and the dinner ladies. The school also ran a very successful ‘Apple Day’ which celebrated local varieties of apples and invited the community into the school. The school council is leading on other fruit-themed days using local produce.
The school council has a budget of £50 a year, but the school has decided to raise this to £100.
Strong system of class councils
Class councils regularly talk about ideas and issues that they have in the school. For the school council meetings, they have to come up with their two most important ideas that they would like to be discussed. Two students from each class attend the school council meeting and describe their two ideas.
Regular circle time
Regular circle time helps to boost students’ confidence and ability to talk in front of a group. This strengthens the class councils and school council meetings.
Governor interaction
A governor attends the school council meetings, and there is a standing item on the agenda for all governors meetings to get an update on the school council, and to look at their minutes.
About the school:
Barming Primary School is larger than average. Several significant changes in staff have taken place in the past 18 months, including the headteacher. The school has more boys than girls. Most pupils are White British. The proportion of other minority ethnic heritages is below the national average and includes pupils from a variety of Asian or Black British or Black African heritages. A significant minority of these pupils speak more than one language but few are at the early stages of learning English as an additional language.
The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or learning disabilities is broadly average, as is the proportion with a statement of special educational needs. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average. In the Early Years Foundation Stage, there are two Reception classes. The school has several awards reflecting its commitment to healthy lifestyles.
Involver conducted these case studies for the Office of the Children’s Commissioner in 2011, as part of a project to encourage schools to involve their students in decision making
“It’s their [the pupils’] school, not my school. Adults need to work in partnership with children.”
Headteacher
Key benefits:
Raised profile of and pride in the school.
The school is now leading and assisting others to improve their practice.
Virtually eliminated vandalism.
Greatly improved behaviour and relationships between students, students and teachers and students and parents. Everyone takes responsibility for their own behaviour.
Reduced absenteeism.
Creates confident learners who have constructive relationships with each other.
Improved attainment (SATs scores).
Top advice
Create a culture of equal respect, rights and responsibilities. Everything flows from this. It allows staff and students to see themselves as part of a community with shared values and goals.
Examine your core purpose. Realise that school is about getting every child to develop as a person, not SATs or pleasing Ofsted. The headteacher’s role is to act as a ‘gatekeeper’ to ensure staff and students are free to get on with those things that address the core purpose.
Involve all students in evaluating and writing your school development plan (SDP). Create something everyone can understand, make it very public and ensure everyone refers back to it throughout the year.
Methods used:
Rights Respecting Schools Award
When the current headteacher took over the school had been without a permanent headteacher for 5 years, morale was low and the school was not well thought of in the area. The new headteacher started conversations with all staff about what they saw as the core purpose of the school. Together the staff and pupils started to take ownership of the school and refocus it. A governor discovered the Rights Respecting Schools Award scheme and saw that it fitted in well with the direction the school was moving in. It has since become central to everything the school does. The linking of rights and responsibilities has improved relationships across the school and externally.
Some parents initially expressed reservations as they felt that children “already know their rights”, but as the firm link between rights and responsibilities has been learned parents see how they can use this with their children. They have found this to be empowering and it has meant that where previously there may have been conflict now conversations can take place. An example given by the headteacher was of parents and children discussing parents’ responsibility to ensure children get enough sleep so that they can take advantage of their right to education. Without the language of rights and responsibilities this may have been a shouting match.
The headteacher has become an evangelist for Rights Respecting Schools because of the impact she has seen it have on her school and pupils. It does not just deal with rules, behaviour and relationships, but feeds in to every aspect of the school day. Lessons, environmental issues and food are all spoken about in the framework of rights and responsibilities.
The culture of listening and discussion has built great self-confidence in the pupils as well as giving them an understanding of their role in the school community. Pupils who moved up to the secondary school were reporting that, “secondary school treats us like babies; they do not let us make any decisions.” So the headteacher from the local high school visited St James’ and was so impressed with the understanding and maturity demonstrated in the discussions the pupils were having that the schools are now working together to improve involvement of students at the secondary school.
“If children are respecting adults, then adults should respect the children. It has to work both ways.”
Year 6 pupil
School principles, not rules
With the new found self-confidence of the pupils, a challenge was laid down to the new headteacher by one of the Year 5 pupils who was often getting in to trouble:
Year 5 pupil: “I want to talk to you about school, and you. You keep telling us that school’s about real life, well you’re wrong it’s not. And school rules, they’re rubbish. Rules aren’t about real life, rules are about control. And the reason we have rules in school are not to do with real life they’re to do with adults controlling children. And rules are nothing to do with real life, they’re place-specific (this is the phrase she used). When was the last time you went to Morrison’s and put your hand up at the deli counter to get some cheese? You don’t, do you? You wait your turn and you ask nicely.”
Headteacher: “But if you don’t have rules it’s called anarchy.”
Year 5 pupil: “No, you’re not listening to me. What I’m saying is, it shouldn’t be about control and it shouldn’t be place-specific, it should be about responsibility that people accept. So what we need are principles that go underneath everything we do and then it won’t matter who we are or where we are. And I’ve thought it through, we need three:
Be respectful,
be responsible and
be ready to learn.
If we do that it sums everything up. If we respect ourselves, other people and our world and we’re responsible for everything we think, say and do; we take responsibility for our actions towards other people and we take responsibility for our actions in the world and if we’re ready to learn here and now and there and then it won’t matter whether there are rules or not, because everybody would get on. So they should be our principles, Miss.”
This idea was taken to the school council and then to the governors and has become school policy. It has meant that people are responsible for the own behaviour and think about how their behaviour impacts on others, rather than just whether their behaviour will get them in to trouble. It means that there is one set of principles for the whole-school, not rules for teachers and rules for pupils.
Two tier council structure: school council and committees
Each class elects six representatives, two to each of three committees:
Eco-schools
Healthy Schools
Rights Respecting
Each of these has specific areas of responsibility that they discuss with their class in class meetings and then meet together to work on. Members of these committees then stand to be on the school council. This means that all the pupil-led work of the school can be co-ordinated by the school council but more people are involved in carrying it out.
After pupils are elected they are trained to run their committees, and they then do so with no staff support, so the projects and voices coming through are not tempered by staff. The school council meets every Friday and then meets with the governors every half-term to get their support for what the pupils are doing.
Student involvement with the school development plan (SDP)
As with any school, the SDP lays out what the school is aiming to achieve over the next year or more. The difference at St James’ is that rather than being a document referred to (rarely) only by the governors and the senior managers, the SDP has pride of place on its own noticeboard in the school’s entrance. The whole SDP is only two pages long and is written in language that everyone in the school can understand. It is surrounded by the evaluation of last year’s plan in the form of pictures and quotations from pupils, staff and parents.
The SDP is evaluated and written on a yearly cycle. After a new school council has been elected they consult with the whole-school on how well they feel all the targets set out in the previous year’s SDP have been met. They also ask every class, “what do the grown-ups in the school need to do to make you better learners?” The results of these consultations are brought together with the views of staff, governors and parents to form the new SDP. Everything the school does then flows from this plan, and it is there to be referred to by anyone involved with the school.
About the school:
St James is a school of average size serving the village of Wardle. It is situated in an area of some social disadvantage. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is above average.
Almost all pupils are of White British backgrounds and none are learning English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is average although the percentage with a statement of special educational need is above average. The school holds the Activemark and Healthy Schools awards and the United Nations Rights Respecting School award.
Involver conducted these case studies for the Office of the Children’s Commissioner in 2011, as part of a project to encourage schools to involve their students in decision making
