Posted on: October 14th 2016
It has been an exciting start to the year, with many children from Forms 2 to 6 demonstrating their skills in communication (one of our core values) by delivering speeches to their fellow classmates that displayed confidence and a sincere interest in moving the school forward.
There have been some changes to the School Council this year, starting with the election process. We feel strongly that the School council should include pupil voice from across the school, therefore this year we have a representative from each class in Junior Prep and Senior Prep. The Head boy and Head girl have the exciting job of representing the children on the Princes Avenue site and will have several opportunities to gather their thoughts and ideas, as well as share with them what initiatives are being put in place.
This year we want to give the children more opportunities to work with all involved in the school and intend inviting a range of other members of the school community to share at our School Council meetings. We already have plans to meet with Kevin, the Muswell Avenue School Chef to discuss the menu and have some input into the design of it, as well as looking at other initiatives to promote healthy eating. We also plan to invite other members of the school community eg. FoNH, SENCo, Mr Jowett, Miss Patten (Head of Sport) to our meetings to discuss ideas, concerns and development. It is important that the pupil’s feel their ideas and thoughts are considered seriously and actioned where possible.
We’ve had two successful morning meetings, where we discussed the changes to the School Council this year and their responsibility to their classmates. We began by outlining clear rules for our weekly meetings ensuring everyone understood the importance of it being an open and honest forum to discuss important matters that affect the running of the school. We also voted on key roles within the School Council and discussed what the different roles would involve.
Roles elected:
Chairperson: Daisy Dawes Vice Chair: Oliver Osler
Secretary: Casper Priest Vice secretary: Caitlin Alpert
Treasurer: Alex Sergeant Vice Treasurer: Toby Priest
It is wonderful to see that a range of children from across the school were considered to be suitable for the different roles and that the younger children can be supported by the older children and encouraged.
Within the School Council we have decided on three sub-committees of which the children will be part. These are: Playground Committee - looking at developing the playground on both sites and improving playtimes, Health and Well-being Committee - working to improve the physical and emotional well being of our pupils by working closely with the kitchen, Miss Patten and staff, Fundraising Committee - working with FONH and the school community to raise funds and awareness for our chosen charity.
The first challenge for the School Council is deciding on a charity. The children all addressed their classes finding out their thoughts on appropriate charities. The list of charities brought to the School Council meeting was impressive showing a range of concerns and passion from all the children. The School Council members were able to explain what charities they were putting forward and the reasons for doing so. A final decision is still to be made and we will inform you in the next School Newsletter.
