Councillors and their behaviour and attitude
- Councillors, as representatives of pupils of the school, agree to maintain the highest standards of behaviour.
- The councillors will treat any visitors to the meeting with politeness.
Voting And Selection Procedures
- The council shall be made up of a maximum of two representatives from each class
- A councillor, once elected will be on the School Council for one year.
- Pupils can stand for election to be councillors as often as they want to while they are part of the school
- The link teacher is not allowed to vote in School Council meetings but will be allowed to suggest items for the agenda.
- The secretary will be decided by a vote by all the councillors. The role of secretary is to publicise meetings, to share minutes and agendas with relevant pupils and to take minutes at full school council meetings.
- A councillor may be voted off the council if their behaviour in school becomes a problem
- The councillors will nominate and select students to run for Chairperson.
- The nominees will present themselves to each year group and explain their motives and relevant skills in assembly. Every pupil will have a vote in selecting a chairperson.
Structures and Procedures At School Council Meetings
- Once a half term all form representatives will attend a Year council meeting.
- KS3 Year Meetings will be chaired by the LC with the exception of the first Year Seven meeting which will be chaired by the Link Teacher.
- In KS4 Year Ten and Eleven will meet together and the meeting will be chaired by the council Chair person.
- Agendas for the Year meeting will be set at the Year meeting with the exception of special items set by the Chairperson.
- The minutes from all Year meetings will be sent to the Link teacher as soon as possible after the Year meeting.
- There will be a full Council meeting as soon as possible after the Year meeting.
- The agenda for the full Council meeting will be set by the Chairperson based on the minutes from Year meetings.
- The Head teacher will attend the full Council meetings wherever possible.
- The Council must make sure that all people likely to be affected by a decision are informed first and have a chance to comment
- Minutes will be taken at every council meeting and every decision made will be carefully written down by the secretary.
- The council will invite a wide range of people to meetings to help the councillors make the best decisions
- The chairperson is in charge of the School Council meeting and has the right to silence people or remove them from the meeting if they are behaving badly.
- The link teacher or head teacher will have the right to prevent the School Council making a decision that s/he considers is not the responsibility of the council or within its powers to decide. They will explain this decision to the Council.
Promoting the School Council- giving the community a voice.
· The School Council will have a notice board in a prominent place in the school.
· There will be a School Council suggestion box near the front entrance of the school for anyone, including parents and visitors to the school, to make comments to the School Councillors.
· Every representative will have their picture and name on display on the school council board. In Year 7- 10 there will be group photographs of representatives. In Year 11 each representative will have their own photograph.
· The School council will have a lunchtime base in N12 so that all students know how and where to contact them.
· The School Council representatives will be responsible for expressing the voice of the school pupils in a constructive and considered manner.
School Council Rights and Responsibilities
· The council will not have its own account but can apply to the Head teacher and the PTA for funds for specific projects. They can also design and run fund raising projects when agreed by the Head teacher.
· All members of the school will be informed of the decision the council has taken.
· Decisions that will affect staff will go to a Learning Co-ordinators meeting, a Curriculum Leaders meeting and departmental meetings for comments and suggestions before they are passed.
· All minutes from meetings will be sent to each form and to every member of staff.
· The council will be environmentally aware in their planning and suggestions.
· The council will bring solutions and suggestions for every problem that they present to a meeting.
· No individual member of school (student or staff) will ever be discussed at any school council meeting.
