Tag: KS3 (P7-S1-S2)

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involver blog

School councils in the Czech Republic

We’re just back from a week in Prague helping to train school councils link teachers from schools across the Czech Republic. The words “Žákovské parlamenty” are very important to us now :)

We worked with a GREAT organisation called CEDU who support school councils over there. Having showed Kamila and Tomas from CEDU school councils from around London a couple of years ago, it was lovely to do the return trip.

CEDU have been supporting a number of schools across the Czech Republic to set up and maintain effective school councils.

They had put on a three day course for teachers from 13 schools across the whole country. Three teachers came from each school, including a head teacher – great commitment from the staff. Our contribution was to give a one-hour presentation on how school councils work in the UK, and to deliver a couple of  training sessions for the 40ish teachers (number not age).

Things I learnt in Prague:

  • The obstacles that school councils face in the Czech Republic are remarkably similar to the ones that we face in the UK.
  • Training through a translator is difficult but a good challenge.
  • Prague is an amazing city and rabbit hearts taste really good.
  • Jackets from Top Man don’t keep you warm in -20 degrees temperatures.
  • If a teacher offers you a green drink with cream on the top in a Czech bar, don’t drink it.

Things we did: 

Anyway, we started the trip with a visit to a local primary and secondary school called Táborská. After a lovely tour of the school (which you can see here, we sat in on a school council meeting which was translated brilliantly by one of the students, Max. Their school councils is called ‘3 Oko’ which means ‘Third Eye’.

The school council were talking about having a bigger role in supporting learning for younger students and working closely with teachers. It was a really useful start to see a school council meeting.

The next day was the first day of the conference. We had the amazing Honza as our official translator for the training – he was quick, concise and knew his stuff on participation. The whole week was a lot easier because of Honza – thanks!

After some warm up exercises, and three of the teacher participants turning up in traditional Moravian dress (plus shots of slivovitz for everyone!), Tomas gave an update on the programme. We then gave a speech (through Honza) on school councils in the UK.  You can see this below; though the fonts are a bit messed up.

It became clear that the obstacles to effective school councils were very familiar to the Czech teachers. Around half of them had been involved in the CEDU programme for two years. They were also very interested in the students being excluded in UK schools, which doesn’t seem to be as common in the Czech Republic.

To give us a flavour of some of the student voice work they’ve been doing, the teachers each gave a short presentation on what their students have been up to. Here’s one of the presentations (you can see a few more here):

The next day we delivered two workshops to the teachers aimed at helping them to overcome some of the difficulties they were having with their school councils. Asher sensibly suggested that the workshops should be in Czech so that the teachers could share ideas, with Honza translating things back to us. This worked out well, and there was a sigh of relief from the teachers when they didn’t have to hear everything in English.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a really interesting day, and many of the teachers had made really good progress. We helped them to support one another, and chipped in with our own advice too. I found it difficult not to be able to support the teachers once they were in small groups though, due to the language barrier – often that’s when you can go into more detail and give some tailored support. We did out best though, and the teachers seemed to get a lot out of it.

After a lovely end-of course celebration, and some exciting discussions about future collaboration, our trip to Prague came to an end. I also did a short interview  on Prague radio. If you can’t speak Czech, it’s probably not worth clicking :)

And if you’re interested, here’s the programme that we ran:  involver session outline – Prague Feb 2012

So we’d like to say a big thank you to the CEDU team: Tomas, Kamila, Karel, Filip, Honza, Jaroslav and Eliska. You were amazing hosts and we’re very grateful. A massive thank you to all the teachers we worked with too!

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Case Studies involver blog

School council and student voice case study: St Francis Xavier Catholic Primary School

A great case study from an inspiring primary school in the West Midlands. Read more of our school council case studies here.

Key quote:

“You can’t force children to get involved. But you can give them lots of chances and build their confidence slowly and they will start to take part.”

Student, Year 6

Key benefits:

  • Confident and articulate students who are willing and able to speak up about their ideas, and work together to put them into action.
  • Better behaviour from students who are proud of their school and what it achieves.
  • Students who are keen to learn and take responsibility for aspects of their learning.
  • Improved teaching and learning. Teachers who give students a say on their ‘learning journey’ are more flexible, adaptable and able to meet the needs of students.
  • A happy and cohesive school community that raises aspirations for students at the school.

Top advice

  • Buy-in from school leadership is crucial. It is really important to get the headteacher and senior leadership team involved in student voice and on your side. They need to be visibly promoting student voice in and around the school, supporting different projects. Crucially, they also need to be supporting staff to embrace student voice in their teaching and the different approach that this requires.
  • Staff will be more convinced of the value of student voice if they see the impact and appeal it has to students. Showcasing the students’ good work will help them to see the value in it, and get on board.
  • Encourage students and staff to listen to everyone’s ideas, even ones that are a bit silly. When students have trust and responsibility, students will quickly learn how to ask the right questions about projects and ideas. They will begin to realise and understand what an unrealistic idea looks like, and how to turn bad ideas into good ones.
  • Value everyone in the school. Not just the pupils and teachers, but governors, cleaning staff, technicians, teaching assistants and kitchen staff.
  • Taking risks is an important part of helping students to lead, and embracing student voice, but you will need senior management support to do this!
  • Give young people some ownership of their learning. Students who create their own learning journey, deciding on the how they learn, and what they learn (within boundaries) will be more engaged and perform better.

Methods used:

Friday Forums

On two Fridays every term, the school runs a Friday Forum. This is a really important way to show every child that it is their school and that their ideas to improve the school are really valued and listened to.

On each Friday Forum, children discuss a particular topic in their classes. These topics are picked and voted on by the school council and might be a topic like ‘learning’ or ‘safety’.

Pupils talk about what they would like to change or improve, and two representatives from each class then meet to present their thoughts to everyone in the school. A Friday Forum assembly is then planned, written and presented by Year 6 pupils who round up the feedback, and support them with statistics.

School council

The school also has a traditional school council with class council representatives in each class.

The school council is extremely popular and has an extremely high profile in the school. Every child would love the opportunity to be on it. It has recently improved the playground equipment for the school.

Student’s input into teaching and learning through learning journeys

The school is keen on co-construction of the curriculum, and gives students a significant say in choosing their ‘learning journey’ through a topic. Teachers introduce a topic and explore what students already know, what they are interested in, what they would like to learn and how they would like to learn it. Being able to customise their learning engages students. It has also helped teachers to be more flexible with their teaching styles, and more responsive to the changing needs of students. The school is a brave and challenging place to learn.

About the school:

St Francis Xavier Catholic Primary School serves two parishes in the urban West Midlands. This area is very mixed socially and many pupils face social and economic disadvantage. Just under half of the pupils are from Catholic families. Over half the pupils come from a wide range of minority ethnic groups.

Twice the usual proportion of pupils start school with little or no English. An above average number of pupils have learning difficulties or disabilities. When children start in Nursery they have low levels of skills and knowledge.

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

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involver blog Newsletters

Newsletter 11: Can your school council do this?

 

Enough about us …

… this is about you

Many schools are doing great, exciting things with their school councils and student voice; last year we were commissioned to write up some good practice case studies and we’ve (finally) been allowed to publish them. Have a look, steal some ideas and tell us what you’re doing that’s even better!

Case study: Student governors

Beauchamp College doesn’t really have a school council, they have elected student governors and a student ambassador instead. They perform many of the same roles, but as they sit on the governing body, are completely tied in to decision-making in their school.
http://involver.org.uk/?p=3297

Resource: Quick minutes template

Ensure that you get down the most important facts from your school council (or any other meeting): what decisions were made, and WHO is doing WHAT by WHEN.
http://involver.org.uk/?p=3272

Case study: Whole school democracy

Poster at Wroxham: Pupils will not learn to think for themselves if their teachers are expected to do as they are told
Wroxham Primary School was turned around by creating a culture where everyone is listened to and is asking the question ‘how could we improve?’ They have cross-age circle times led by Y6, pupil-led parent evenings and an emphasis on self-evaluation.
http://involver.org.uk/?p=3198

News: By and for young people

This is a podcast produced as part of the Our Say Our Way project, which is linking up young people on housing estates around the country. We’re currently writing a toolkit to spread what they are doing further:
http://www.oursay-ourway.co.uk/blog/2011/12/2012-legacy/

 
Free networking and advice for school council co-ordinators

Free event

Student voice networking in London: We’re putting on some free evenings to get school council co-ordinators together to share ideas, tips and tales of woe. We’ll provide the venue, refreshments and advice if you tell us where you’d like to meet up (if there’s strong interest in an area outside of London, we’ll happily come to you too, so let us know):
http://bit.ly/wxwhDX

Even more case studies!

We’re adding a case study a day for the next two weeks, so keep checking the link below. There are already ones up about Design Teams at New Line Learning Academy and the student-led consultations at Westfield Community School:
http://involver.org.uk/category/case-studies/

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Case Studies involver blog

School council and student voice case study: Little Heath School

Here’s a student voice case study from one of involver’s favourite schools, Little Heath School in Reading.

You can see more from their amazing student voice conference here , here and here.

Key quote:

“There’s lots of students that aren’t very sure, or are less confident to have a voice. We say that everyone has a voice. Even the shy pupils have a voice and can talk to anybody, can talk with teachers, try and get into the STARS group, and can really make a difference.”

School council member, Year 8

Key benefits:

  • Improved relationships between students and teaching staff. Teachers genuinely want to hear what students think, run with their ideas, and realise that good participation is often a step into the unknown. Students respond to this and like being taken seriously.
  • A school that meets the needs and learning styles of Little Heath students. Students who are keen to get involved in shaping important aspects of the school, and teachers who encourage and support them to do so.
  • Involving students in school life helps to turn around badly behaved students. Students realise that acting badly or being naughty are not the only ways to get noticed, and that they can get involved in student voice and try to improve the school.
  • More confident students who are willing to plan, organise and evaluate large events and influence major areas of school life.

Top advice

  • Give staff the time to support student voice. Student voice needs staff to make it work, who have the time and resources to be able to do it well. In Little Heath’s case, there is a passionate student voice coordinator with dedicated time in the week to support student voice. He is supported by an ex-pupil who has just finished Year 13, and is spending the year as a paid member of staff supporting student voice.
  • Hold dedicated events like a conference that allow you to get lots done with student voice projects.
  • Encourage students to get other students involved. Students having an influence and having fun at the same time are the best selling points to get others who are less interested involved.
  • You can help to get a wide range of students taking part when there is a wide range of ways to be involved. Hooks might be skills-based (like design or campaigning skills) or content based (like environment issues or politics).
  • Student involvement should not be an add on to the core work of the school. Students should be involved in helping to improve areas like teaching and learning – it will benefit everyone if they do. They just need to be organised in an appropriate way.
  • Have a central coordinating body for all student voice work – in Little Heath’s case this is the school council. It helps to avoid duplication and keep track of everything that is going on.

Methods used:

Student voice conference

Every year Little Heath holds a student voice conference in a local hotel in Reading. Several hundred pupils from the school come along and spend a focused day on student voice work. It is an exciting event for the students, who enjoy being able to concentrate on the different projects. This dedicated time helps the school to get lots done in a short space of time.

The student voice conference is a student-led project from start to finish, and it is an impressive example of how young people can run an amazing event.

As well as time for work on projects, there is a panel discussion in the afternoon so that students can ask questions to teachers, senior staff, local politicians and other organisations that have worked in the school.

Some of the work on the day, and throughout the school year, includes:

STARS project (students as researchers)

Students take a lead on researching and trying to improve certain aspects of school life. For example, one group in the STARS team had looked at ‘How students prefer to learn, and which ways are most effective’. They had looked at three specific subjects; English, History and ICT in Year 7 and 8. Their findings were presented to governors and the headteacher, and also in a booklet which is available to students.

Another group had looked at how popular homework is in Year 7, and the types of homework they enjoy. These projects have flourished since the conference, and one group’s look into the co-construction of learning is helping teachers to plan their lessons.

Student voice leaders

The student voice leaders are older students in the school who take a lead on the conference and facilitate the different sessions. They are a reminder that student voice is taken seriously in the school and getting involved in student voice can be a progression throughout school.

School council

A school council sits alongside the different student voice groups. This also has as an important role in school improvement. It has representatives from each year group and meets every week.

Recent topics for discussion include homework, praise and reward and students’ rights and responsibilities. It is the central forum for student voice in the school, and all other groups feed into the school council.

About the school:

Little Heath School is a larger than average oversubscribed comprehensive school with a large sixth form. It has specialist college status in mathematics and science and in 2008 gained a second specialism as a high performing specialist school for ‘raising achievement transforming learning’.

The proportion of students eligible for a free school meal is low. The proportion of students from minority ethnic groups or who speak English as an additional language is below average. The proportion of students with a learning difficulty and/or disability is slightly below average and there are fewer students with statements of special educational needs than nationally.

 

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

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Case Studies involver blog

School council and student voice case study: Westfield Community School

Here’s the third in our series of school council case studies, it’s Westfield Community School!

Key quote:

“It’s critical that children see the process and can see the end product. It’s more than just having a chat, and the children know this. They know the process is important in school. They know the starting point and what they’ve achieved.”

Assistant headteacher

Key benefits to student voice:

Pupils respect staff because it is clear that the opinions, views and ideas of every child are taken seriously and acted upon appropriately.

Transition and connection between phases is improved by older students working every week with younger students.

All new buildings, equipment and schemes have a high chance of success because the whole-school is actively consulted. The best options for all are chosen and there is a sense of excitement and ownership of them.

Top advice

  • The critical thing is that projects have a process and that children know the process. See things through to the end, do not give up with any stumbling blocks, bring it back to the school council and the class councils and work through it.
  • Do not put anything off limits, it will ruin your credibility. Address everything that is brought up in the most appropriate way.
  •  Value every voice, not just those who get elected. So use a structure where the views from the whole class (not just the class rep) are accurately represented to the school council. A strong system of class councils enables this.
  •  Be clear about what the school council process is and how it works. Only certain types of pupil will volunteer to take part in something they do not fully understand.
  • Keep reviewing your system to make sure everyone is getting heard.

Methods used:

School council and class councils

“The class councils drive the ideas. All the children are involved in everything.”

Assistant headteacher

Class councils form the core of pupil voice at Westfield. They happen every week in every class. Pupils can discuss any issues they like but the focus is always on coming up with solutions that the pupils themselves can carry out rather than just requesting things from staff. These meetings are run by members of the school council, who come from Years 5 and 6. They are supported by the class teacher to ensure that everyone stays reasonably well on track. Every fourth week there is a school council meeting where the pupils representing each class share and co-ordinate views and action from across the school.

“As a class teacher you always think such and such would make a good class councillor, but the children have other ideas, and as children can see the processes, more children are putting themselves forward. We’re clear about the process, so they see that they could do it too.”

Assistant headteacher

Improving representation on the school council for younger children

It had been the case that the school council was made up of members from every year group, but it was felt that this meant that some of the younger children were not being properly represented. Often the class reps from the lower years struggled to remember what they had discussed with their classes and so just gave their personal opinions in school council meetings. It was felt that older children were more able to keep this focus, so the school council was restructured to include just Years 5 and 6.

Each school councillor not only represents her own class but also has responsibility for representing specific classes lower down the school. So whilst younger pupils are not on the school council any more they all have an effective advocate there. They also all have the chance to discuss issues every week in their class, in meetings led primarily by another pupil.

Structures that facilitate action

The school council regularly works directly with the school’s senior leadership team (SLT) and governors. These relationships means they understand some of the possibilities and constraints of running the school. It also reinforces the views of the SLT and governors that pupils’ contributions are practical, mature and important. Furthermore it gives the school council a clear channel for raising key issues in the school with the key people.

To enable them to better deal with the smaller issues the school council requested and got a budget. This allows them to act quickly on ideas brought up in class council meetings so pupils see an immediate connection between them expressing their views and changes in the school.

Pupil-led whole-school consultations

When major changes are happening in the school the school council runs detailed, structured whole-school consultations. These ensure that every pupil is able to play a role in shaping what the school will look like.

Recently this has included what happens in the playground (equipment and activities) and a current consultation is on the ‘the Growing Space’. This is an area of unused land adjacent to the school that the school has acquired as an ‘outdoor classroom’. What will go in to this and what it will look like is being decided by the whole-school. Rather than just rely on each individual class representatives to explain this and discuss it with her class in her own way, which can result in patchy levels of feedback, the school council has designed a process to be run with the whole school. They run an assembly for each of the three phases in the school; then do a presentation in each class council meeting; then collect views from the whole-school before finally collating these views to create a report. This report is presented to the SLT and governors as well as fed back to the whole-school.

“It creates as sense of ownership for students, gives them a sense of achievement and shows what we think of our children, that it’s about what they would like, and they know that, and that’s a real key in terms of the respect the children have for us.”

Assistant headteacher

Putting pupils at the heart of school design

By ensuring that pupils are part of the process of designing the ‘feel’ of the school a great sense of ownership and pride has been developed. This is evidenced both in respect for the building and respect for staff. Pupils worked with a photographer to generate ideas for images for each phase within the school. The children themselves are featured in the images and the school council decided on which ones to use, as well as deciding on materials.

About the school

Westfield Community Primary School is a larger than average-sized school formed in 2005, following the amalgamation of two local primary schools. The percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is three times the national average. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is above that usually found. The school population is predominantly White British and there are few pupils at early stages of speaking English as an additional language. The school is also a resourced school for the local authority and offers places to pupils with low-severity autism or speech and language difficulties.

Westfield holds National Healthy Schools Status and the Activemark. It has been identified as a National College Leadership Development School. It also holds the Cabinet Office 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

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involver blog Resources

Quick minutes template

I knocked this up to use in our training sessions, when we don’t need to go back over old minutes, etc. but it actually works pretty well as a simple way to get down the most important information in any meeting: the actions.

It just lays out simply for everyone what decision was taken and WHO needs to do WHAT by WHEN.

Download the editable Word version: [download id=”241″]

Download the PDF version: [download id=”242″]