School Council

Aberford School Council

Helping young people to become active, democratic citizens.

What is a School Council?

A school council is a formal group of pupils within a school who are elected by their peers to represent them and their views.

Why do we have a School Council?

Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) says that children and young people should have a say in decisions that affect their lives. A school council can provide a meaningful way in which pupils can voice their opinions and have their views taken into account in decisions which impact upon them.

The Role:

Attend regular meetings with other School Council members from each class
Take ideas and suggestions your class have to discuss at School Council meetings
Bring back ideas, information and suggestions to your class and encourage your class to listen, discuss, share their views and, where necessary, vote on actions that need to be taken
Help to organise charity events throughout the year
Encourage the pupils in your class to be aware of their school environment and to respect and care for it
Some of the more senior School Council members will be responsible for specific tasks
- School Council Chairperson (leads the meetings)
- School Council Secretary (writes the minutes of the meetings)
- School Council Treasurer (manages the money – with link teacher)

Qualities of a School Council Member:

As individuals, children may bring lots of additional skills and abilities to this role in particular, however, to be a successful School Council member you need to:

Be reliable
Be proud of our school and want our school to be the best it can be
Listen carefully to the views of others and take their ideas on board
Represent the majority view of your class, even if you don't agree!
Commit time to this role and accept that you may need to do things during break times and/or lunchtime
Be enthusiastic
Be kind and respectful
Be patient

School Council 2022/2023

Our school council has worked hard this year to raise the profile of British Values in school. They once again delivered an assembly on what the British Values are and where we recognise them in our school.

We are currently working hard to plan and organise fundraising events to raise money for our chosen charity, The Dogs Trust. Our recent bun sale raised over £100 to support this worthwhile and local charity.

In February, the school council welcomed Garforth Lions into school to help them plant a tree in memory of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth. The school council had originally contacted the Lions to ask for a tree to celebrate the jubilee but thought this was a fitting memorial for the Queen this year. The tree is planted in our school grounds.

School Council 2021/2022

In September 2021 we democratically elected our new school council. Throughout the year they have worked hard to organise many different things:

Whole school assembly about British Values (Dec' 2021)
Children in Need (March 2022)
Invited our local MP, Alec Shelbrooke and Councillor Ryan Stephenson to discuss a range of topics from British Values, the war in Ukraine, cost of living ad how this affects schools and the requirements needed to represent our community as an MP (April 2022)
Researched, discussed and voted on a chosen charity to fundraise for next year. Martin House Children's Hospice is our chosen charity for September (May 2022)
Organised Fundraising for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, £30 was raised for lavender plants and containers for the playground (June 2022)
Helped during the interview process for our new teaching assistant and Class 4 teacher
Met with the school catering boss and Di, our school kitchen supervisor to give their opinions on school dinners and were asked to comment on what and how the school lunches could be improved, suggestions will be discussed at the next Leeds City Council school catering meeting