St Matthew's School Council
At St. Matthew’s
As part of our ongoing development, the School Council represents the pupil voice within the school, encouraging the children to take an active role in school decision making and policy implementation.
Aims of the School Council
- To provide a voice for the children within our school.
- To encourage decision making and the active involvement of children in the life of the school.
- To encourage a deeper understanding of the democratic approaches of discussion and decision making.
- To create a truly inclusive body that actively informs fellow children about decisions made following democratic discussion.
School Council Elections
Every year one person from each KS1 and KS2 will be democratically elected by their class to form the School Council.
Each School Council member will stand for re-election after a one year period, on the School Council.
If a School Council member leaves, or is voted off the School Council by the majority of representatives for any reason, then new elections will take place.
Key Stage 2 Head boys and Head Girls are asked to attend meetings and contribute to discussions.
Mrs Johnson and Mrs Jones are the staff representatives who will guide and support the School Council.
Decision Making
Throughout the year, the School Council will act on behalf of their peers, working on suggestions put forward through the School Council suggestion book or by word of mouth, if deemed appropriate.
Also they will consider other issues put forward by the Head Teacher, Staff, Governors, and parents.
The School Council will interview and choose KS1 and KS2 headboys and headgirls each academic year.
All decisions will be discussed and voted upon democratically.
Communication
- A School Council meeting will take place weekly.
- Each meeting will have a set agenda, the main points of which will be set at the end of the previous meeting.
- Suggestions will be taken by the School Council at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 School Council Surgeries during playtimes.
- Minutes of the meeting will be taken by the Teacher representative.
- School Council members will keep their own notes of the meeting.
- Minutes of the School Council meetings are available on request.
- School Council representatives will feed back information orally to their classes.
2023/24
Here are some of the items we have discussed and organised in 2023/24:
World Downs Syndrome Day
We are going to wear our favourite socks and bring £1
on Thursday 21st March to raise money for WDSD.
Comic Relief:
We wore mismatch wacky clothes and pay £1 on the School App to raise money for Comic Relief on Friday 15th March.
Christmas Fair
We asked if we could have a Christmas Fair and the teachers organised it for us:
Save the Children
On Wednesday 6th December we wore our Christmas jumpers for
Christmas Dinner Day and brought £1 to raise money for Save the Children.
Children in Need
On Friday 17th November we wore our pyjamas and brought £1 to raise money for Children in Need.
After School Clubs:
We have made a list of clubs we would like teachers to run after school and displayed it in the staffroom. So far we have had: chess club, quiz club, reading club, dodgeball club, choir and many more...
In the future we have asked forfootball club, basketball club, spelling club, cheerleading club, cooking club, sand pit club, gardening club, forest school club, lego club, hockey club and many more...
2022/23
Here are some of the items we have discussed and organised in 2022/23:
Headboy/ Headgirl 2023-2024
We are interviewedY5 pupils wo wanted to be KS2 headboy and headgirl in September.
It was a difficult choice but we appointed Abdul and Iftiham. Congratulations and good luck.
Coronation Picnic on the field
We organised a picnic with our friends and family on the field to celebrate the King's Coronation:
Easter Egg Raffle and decorate an egg competition:
We asked children to bring in 20p to buy a raffle ticket to win an Easter egg on Friday 31st March 2023.
We asked the teachers to donate Easter eggs for the Raffle.
We asked children to decorate an egg at home and bring it in by Thursday 30th March for a competition.
3j Easter egg home 2023
Litter Picking
We loved going out with our classes last year litter picking to tidy up our local area.
So we decided to do it again and it fit in nicely with the Keep Britain Tidy campaign:
World Downs Syndrome Day:
On Tuesday 21st March 2023, we wore odd socks and raised money for MENCAP to celebrate Downs Syndrome:
We raised a fabulous £79.80 for MENCAP. Thank you for your contributions.
Comic Relief:
On Friday 17th March 2023 we wore red clothes and made our own red noses at home.
We brought in £1 to raise money to help people all over the world.
We raised a fabulous £323.75: Thank you for your contributions.
reception red nose photo 2023
Own Clothes Day for people affected by the Turkey and Syrian earthquakes:
On Friday 17th February 2023 we had an own clothes day to raise money for people affected by the Turkey and Syrian earthquakes.
We raised £441.53 for Save The Children to help people in need. Thank you for your contributions.
Turkey own clothes day
Valentine's Day:
For Valentine's Day we asked all classes to write on a heart and give it to someone else to make them feel good:
Christmas Fair:
We helped to plan, organise and run a successful Christmas Fair on Thursday 8th December 2023:
We raised a fabulous £454! Thank you for your support.
Save the Children:
We organised a day on Friday 2nd December 2023 for everyone to come
in their Christmas jumpers and bring in £1 to raise money for Save the Children:
We raised a brilliant £138 for Save the Children. Thank you for your contributions.
Children in Need Day:
We asked children to come in their pyjamas on Friday 18th November 2023 and to bring £1 to raise money for Children in Need.
We raised a fabulous £322.58. Thank you for your contributions.
1M Children In Need
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2B children in need
After School Clubs:
We have made a list of clubs we would like teachers to run after school and displayed it in the staffroom. So far we have had: gymnastics club, art club, TTRS club, film club, fitness club, reading club, kahoots club, music club and many more...
In the future we have asked for quiz club, football club, basketball club, spelling club, cheerleading club, cooking club, sand pit club, gardening club, forest school club, lego club, hockey club and many more...
Mindfulness Lunchtime Clubs;
There was a request for a quiet room to be available at lunchtimes for those children that wanted to be quiet and calm. Every key stage now offers this at least one day a week.
Chalk
We have introduced using chalk and drawing outside at lunchtimes to express our ideas.
Trips
We loving going on trips on our minibuses and we are encouraging our teachers to book lots of trips to enhance our learning.
School Pet
We are currently researching how to buy and look after chickens in our Forest School area as our next pet project.
Parents in school
We discussed how we love inviting parents into school for shows, fairs and reading afternoons and we want them to come in more. We discussed when they could come in. We had lots of ideas. Could we bring them on Science Day? Bring them in for Show and Tell? Bring them in for World Book Day or Author Day? Bring them in on Number Day? Bring them in forest school? Bring them in for Commando Joe? Christmas party? Picnic for the coronation on the field? Parents come in for the Y6 fun day again?
We do discuss suggestions and sometimes have to say no.
For example:
- swings, trampolines and big slides on the playground- no for safety.
- ice skating rink, zoos and swimming pools on site- no but we will visit some in the local area.
- Movie afternoon every week- no as we are here to learn.
- Own clothes day every week- no as it stops the times we do come in own clothes being special.
Here are some of the things School Council have done in previous years:
- Held a Queen's Jubilee Picnic on the school field for children and their families.
- Organised a blue and yellow own clothes day to raise money for those in the Ukraine.
- Introduced Friendship benches on the playground.
- Introduced Outdoor Reading boxes so children can read outside at playtime.
- Held Fish Friday to raise money for fish tanks and pet fish for every class in the school.
- Introduced Head boy and Head girl for KS1 and KS2.
- Started Headteacher Awards and Headteacher Award Tea Parties.
- Met with MP Mark Logan to discuss how we could improve our local area.
- Easter Hat/ Egg competitions.
- And lots more...
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