The Pupil Council serves as the voice of the children. It is an elected body consisting of two groups of children: those in Key Stage 2 (7–11 years) and children in Key Stage 1 (5–7 years). Pupil representatives are given an opportunity to put forward their views about the school – the things they like and also, what they feel could be improved. They are given a genuine stake in decision-making at our school.

The Pupil Council has representatives from each class. These elected representatives – one boy and one girl – meet each half term to discuss issues that have been raised by their class. When planning new whole school developments, the Pupil Council are consulted – their ideas, views and opinions are sought. The children’s views and their concerns are always taken very seriously.

Currently, the pupil council is operating in two coordinated groups, one of UKS2 children (Year 5 and 6) and one for LKS2 (Year 3 and 4). Remote learning has meant there is now a dedicated Teams page where the children can discuss ideas, videos can be hosted and it will enable virtual council meetings to be held.

12 October 2021

This year your Pupil Council Representatives are:

Agenda

1. Discuss the role of Pupil Council and how meetings will work
2. Microsoft Teams group
   • Children’s use of Teams is now greatly reduced but Mr Brookes will keep the PC group for now
3. Chair and vice chair
   • Discussed the different roles and their importance for pupil council
   • Children put themselves forward for the roles
   • Due to time, vote will be arranged ahead of next meeting.
4. Wellbeing
   • What is wellbeing and why is it important? Discussed and clarified with the council
   • Mr Brookes outlined some of the wellbeing work being done by Mr Parkin and how we may be able to help
   • Children raised the importance to wellbeing of being safe and feeling welcomed, especially if you’re new to the school.
   • Ideas shared:
     • Toilets – lights and locks to be fixed. Children don’t feel comfortable using certain toilets. Also addressed, the smell of the toilets. Could air fresheners be placed in bathrooms?
     • Buddies and tour guides trained and allocated for new pupils.
     • Could there be some form of mentor scheme for the Year 6s to support younger children? Could this be linked to citizenship award or wellbeing award?
     • A ‘games board’ in the playground suggesting new ideas and games for children to play.
     • Inspirational quotes around the school. Some in and around Year 6 but why not more?
     • Children understood the importance of sports and fitness for wellbeing – schemes like the daily mile were popular. Will link in with Mr Pashley.
     • Suggestion of a worry station in the playground

16 November 2021

This year your Pupil Council Representatives are:

Agenda

1. Announce Chair and Vice Chair
   • They will feed back in our PC assembly
   • Everyone plays a part! You represent your class.
2. Wellbeing
   • Has your class chosen a wellbeing champion?
   • Mr Brookes to follow up on wellbeing suggestions from previous meeting – will share with relevant people (Mrs Jepson, Sarah, Polly)
3. Barnes Common
   • Summarise assembly (15.11.21) for those who missed it.
   • What is the project?
   • Four main points that they want children feedback on:
     1. Adventure playground
     2. Skate park and pump track
     3. Water play
     4. Beverley Brook

—  —  —

Children were given time to discuss with their pupil council year group peers and then had the opportunity to feed back on each point. Further time can be found for pupil councillors to take the additional ideas of their classmates and report back, however initial ideas for Barnes Common included:

Adventure playground

1. 1. Possibility of tunnels or ‘badger set’ style tunnels in the playground. An obstacle-course style feature and/or equipment that could be used for parkour were popular ideas.
   2. Materials used to make the equipment was an important factor for the group – wooden and recycled as opposed to metals or plastics.
   3. Disability access was also raised as an important issue. Would everyone be able to access and enjoy the facilities?
   4. Children asked whether any form of water feature could be present in the adventure playground.

Skate park and pump track

1. 1. 1. Would bikes/BMX be able to utilise the ramps? Similarly, what about rollerbladers or skaters?
      2. The idea of workshops were very popular. Skate training, build-a-board, customising your board (art) were all discussed.
      3. The children raised the importance of first aid. Given the nature of the activities would a first aid kit/first aider be available nearby?

Water play

Children asked about the size of the pool. Would this be changing? Could it be bigger?

1. 1. Stoppers and trails that would allow children to determine where water went to was a suggested idea.
   2. Statues with some form of water feature were another element of water play that children had seen elsewhere.
   3. Sprinkler-style systems, perhaps controlled by pumps, were a popular idea among the group.

Beverley Brook

1. 1. A path or walkway closer to the water to enable people to see what’s in the water was suggested by several children.
   2. Notices about the wildlife and habitats in the area was seen as an important way to help people learn from their environment.
   3. Stepping stones and tunnels were discussed as features that may also add to the interactivity of the area.

A final point raised was the idea of having a ‘street library’ within the park. A take-a-book, leave-a-book style programme that could be accessed by everyone.

As a part of our school’s work on Pupil Voice, two other children from each class are also elected as members of the Food Focus Group. These children meet with Mr Brookes and our catering providers, Caterlink, for the opportunity to feedback on school meals. The food options and lunch experience that the children have are discussed in collaborative meetings. The meetings allow our caterers to share future menu ideas, as well as the children being able to share their own thoughts and feelings on what is being provided and what they’d like to see. The meetings are open, productive and, much like pupil council, give children a genuine stake in how their school is operating.

Food focus group meeting 1

Food focus group meeting 2

Both the Pupil Council and Food Focus Group are overseen by Mr Brookes who also leads on matters connected to diversity and equality within the curriculum. A new role within Barnes Primary School, among other things this has covered areas like the school’s Black History Month and a school-wide Martin Luther King Day remote learning project. It also includes the school’s new Language of the Week initiative to celebrate the many languages other than English spoken by families in our Barnes community.

At Barnes Primary School we want all of our children to have a voice. We are an open and inclusive school and through these groups and initiatives, we want our children to feel comfortable expressing themselves and knowing they can do this in a safe and supportive environment.

Collaboration between colleagues on this work has been key and has been aided by a newly set-up working group, made up of staff from across the school. Likewise, our parents and wider school community have a pivotal role to play and have already aided this by fundraising for a Black History Book Corner.

If you would like to support, contribute to Language of the Week or simply find out more about Pupil Voice at Barnes Primary please don’t hesitate to contact Mr Brookes: tbrookes@barnes.richmond.sch.uk