School Council
St
John Baptist Primary aimed to raise the profile of their new school council
by involving them in activities across the school.
- Overview
- What did the project aim to achieve?
- Developing the campaign
- What worked well
- What went less well
- Benefits gained from the project
- Unexpected outcomes
- Did technology improve the project?
- Parental involvement
- Overall evaluation
- Back to index of Mini Projects
Overview
A Year 6 class responded to the Pupil Questionnaire. This triggered questions about the local council and the Mayor. The teacher decided to use this interest to initiate a class project (survey of learning styles of every pupil in the school) that would need the support of the newly formed School Council. The aim was to raise the profile of the School Council within the school and give them a focus. The school council members led workshops that would find out the required information and supported younger pupils in recording this information on a computer.
The School Council members helped develop a PowerPoint presentation on Personalised Learning (you can download the PowerPoint presentation: 202KB). They helped to present this as part of an evening meeting at the school for parents and the Mayor of Lewisham, they also talked about their evolving role as School Council members.
What did the project aim to achieve?
The project aimed to:
- engage parents in a local democracy project through a schools council led programme
- develop pupil and parents understanding of local democratic processes
- encourage parents to engage with their local council
- enhance pupil understanding of democratic issues through the school council
- outreach parents through on-line individual pupil portfolios
Developing the campaign
Year 6 pupils took part in the online Pupil Questionnaire (see related report – Pupil Questionnaire). This triggered class discussions about the local council and their role in Lewisham.
One of the issues identified by the questionnaire was that children would like more of a voice in their own learning. The Year 6 pupils decided that they would develop their own survey to find out about the learning styles of every child in their school. They discussed which questions they should ask and how they should record the responses – the survey not only asked about learning styles it also asked about favourite lessons and various aspects of school life. A decision was made to record the data in a database, therefore access to computers was required. The Year 6 class completed the survey themselves and then enlisted the help of the School Council members to run workshops with children from across the school to find out about their learning styles and to ask them how they would like to be taught in school.
The data collected was interpreted in a variety of ways i.e. text, graphs and used as part of a presentation on to parents and the Mayor of Lewisham (you can download the PowerPoint presentation: 202KB).
The class also developed an e-mail link with a school across the borough to discuss and share perspectives relating to transition to secondary school and other school activities. They used laptops, digital cameras, the wireless network to facilitate the project.
School Council representatives will report on the project to the Downham Youth forum.
What worked well
- Online questionnaire – raised awareness of local authority structures and responsibilities and democratic processes. Children used ICT well and felt successful with the outcomes.
- Pupil survey - Children increasingly felt ownership of their own learning and their part in making the most of learning opportunities. They developed their skills in using statistical information in an ICT environment.
- Workshops with children – celebration of different learning styles and sensitivity to each others differences i.e. strengths, talents, age, areas of less confidence. Older mentoring younger children and providing positive role models.
- Live web chat with Mayor – immediate and powerful means of communication. Children felt listened to and empowered as a result of use of this technology.
- Children have been preparing presentations for parents and have gained in confidence in delivering their experiences to a wider audience. The children have gained a sense of their personal value and contribution to the running of the school through their work on the school council and sharing these experiences has enabled them to crystallise these perceptions.
- This is an opportunity to share, celebrate and look forward to a new stage in their lives with children in a neighbouring school. Many of these children will transfer to the same secondary school and will have made this additional connection.
What went less well
- Some problems with technology at school level
- More time talking with Mayor would have enriched the experience further
- Timescales generally have been very tight – but have still led to successful outcomes
Benefits gained from the project
- Increased democratic awareness
- Increased awareness of their own place in their school community – playing role in decision making and giving quality feedback
- Increased empathy for the differences that exist amongst them i.e. sensitivity to other's learning styles and abilities
- Ability to constructively make positive changes in the school and local community
- Improved literacy skills: speaking; listening; reading; writing.
- Presentation skills – an important communication tool for the future
- Higher order thinking skills – reasoning; imagining; hypothesizing; empathising
Unexpected outcomes
- Some children engaged at a higher level than predicted
- Pupil survey has informed teaching the school and planning new curriculum structure
- Children often shy and reserved were eager to present ideas and take part in discussions
Did technology improve the project?
- Use of technology raised profile of the project and gave due credence to the value of the children's contributions.
- The technology used enabled activities to happen that could not otherwise have been introduced to the children.
- Communication was immediate and powerful through the use of new technology and enabled the children to feel valued and respected.
Parental involvement
- Evening for parents with presentations by children; Address and question time with Mayor of Lewisham; Parents engaged in debate around changes in education and development of the pupil voice at St John's.
- We intend to develop online pupil portfolios so parents will be able to access pupil portfolios; communicate with school staff; draw information from website and thereby play a greater role in their child's education and the development of our school community.
- ICT workshops will be necessary to train parents to support their children in the use of these technologies.
Overall evaluation
- Overall outputs were achieved and the children found this work stimulating, new and purposeful. It challenged notions that it isn't worthwhile getting involved in decision-making.
- Parents felt welcomed in the school and were eager to contribute to the school and to their child's education. They were intrigued by this new area of learning and we have received many endorsements of the development of our school council. Much discussion has been prompted both at school and in the home.
- The children now understand the concept of “community”.
- This work has much power and challenges perceptions of children. We intend to embed this work as we devise a new curriculum map for the school.
- The development of the school council is bringing a new dimension to our school. The children increasingly see St John's as “their” school and they have a part to play in making it as good as it can be.
- All activities planned have taken place except those scheduled for the near future (pupil portfolios and school website are in development – 4 planning session having taken place with ICT change team)
- More than 60 parents and 10 pupils attended the evening event at the school with the Mayor of Lewisham. The Mayor's webcast had obviously had a big impact on the pupils as they felt they knew the Mayor well enough to engage with him and ask him questions. The pupils' confidence empowered the parents to start asking questions and the event over ran because of the dialogue between the Mayor and his audience. Parents and pupils felt the Mayor was genuinely interested in what they had to say.
Additional Comments
“Real” communication with “real” purpose excited
our imagination and helped us picture the future. All children felt valued
and experienced success.
(John Goodey, Acting Headteacher)
It seems like a really exciting time to be involved in education. I wish
I was young again!
(Parent)
The project has really enhanced my aspirations for developing Citizenship
in school.
(Luigi Leccacorvi, teacher)
Being able to help my children using ICT from home will be really useful.
(Parent)
It really made me wonder why more people don't get involved.
(Y6 child)
I like thinking about our school and how we can make it better.
(Y4 School Councillor)
The Sage eDemocracy Project is part of The local e-Democracy National Project