WJPS School Council comprises of 12 councillors, one pupil from every Y3 –Y6 class and Mrs Oades. Councillors are elected at the start of each academic year by their peers. In addition to representing their own class, school councillors in Year 4, 5 and 6 also each represent a KS1 and Reception class, therefore representing the views of all of our pupils across school and allowing them the opportunity to be involved in all aspects of our school community.
Each councillor attends regular school council meetings held on a Wednesday lunchtime and each meeting has an agenda and minutes are taken. There is a large School Council notice board just inside the main entrance, which is frequently updated with information about news and events.
Positioned underneath the board for everyone to access, is the School Council Suggestions Box. As well as feeding back views via school councillors in class, this gives all children the opportunity to write down and post any suggestions they have and the box is emptied at every meeting. Any suggestions/issues raised are firstly discussed by School Council in our meetings and are then reported to Mr Ward, or a relevant member of staff as required. The ‘You Said We Did’ section of the noticeboard is updated on a regular basis.
As part of their role, School Council are involved in developing procedures and routines, suggesting improvements in health and safety and many other aspects of school life. They also work with staff and the Friends of West Jesmond to enhance areas of school e.g. playground/ classroom.
As part of our wider curriculum, our councillors have been involved in projects in our local community, such as our kindness campaign and ongoing work with Fleming Court Care Home, as well as organising activities for local and national fundraising events such as Children in Need and Comic Relief.
Glossary
We try to be very professional in our school council meetings so we use a lot of business words. Hopefully this will help.
Agenda - a list of things to talk about
Councillor - someone who has been voted for to work for their class and younger children on the school council
Minutes - the notes taken during a meeting so people can see what goes on
Suggestion - an idea for the council to discuss