On 10^th November I had the privilege of being able to host the Pupil Parliament Meeting for the Trust. There was lots of collaboration and the children demonstrated great respect for each other.

They decided that there were a few changes to make to the constitution which I will make and share with all. Most of the discussion about the constitution was about whether or not children should have the opportunity to stay in role for a second year. For the most part it was agreed that a second term could occur but that the same democratic process should be followed to ensure it was fair for all pupils and those that did not get elected in the first instance. Some of our schools also have very few year 5 and 6 students so would automatically be elected as representatives. Another point that arose from this discussion was the idea of those that were elected for a second term, would act as role models for their year 5 peers so that they could hand over the baton effectively and support them to take the lead and model it the following year.

The children were also able to link much of the constitution to our learning characteristics and again, these will be added to the constitution document.

The children all participated in an engaging debate titled “The view of you as a Pupil Parliament member is the view of the whole school”

The debate gave an overwhelmingly positive response to the idea that it is not the PP members point of view that is shared in meetings but rather they represent the views of the whole school.

The PP agreed that everybody in the school should have their voices heard and that they should bring forward the different views and opinions from their schools. They stated that they were a “bunch of diverse people and their ideas need to be built together”. The PP felt that it was their job to help collect the views and ideas of others and make them feel safer and happier in school.

They felt that they should be role models who set examples for the younger children and that they should try to make their suggestions a reality.

The children were able to demonstrate respect for each other by raising their hands and waiting for their turn to be join in with discussion. The conversational was purposeful and relevant and the idea of them having a collective responsibility to their schools was evident. All schools participated confidently and engaged well with the challenges and questions and challenges posed whilst demonstrating a respect for what each other had to say.

The afternoon online session was brief to allow the children time to work collaboratively in their schools to draw up a diagram or record a discussion as to how they ensure that the voices of everybody are heard. The children came up with a fantastic selection of ways to hear the voices of all members of the school community.

For the remainder of the afternoon they worked independently in their school groups to prepare for the next meeting. They were asked to think about the conditions that need to be in place to be an effective collaborator. This included what the staff would need to do as well as the responsibilities of the children.

I was very proud of them all for their hard work and participation. I felt that this was a really successful day and I am already looking forward to the next one (which will be face to face).

The next meeting is Thursday 9^th March (location to be decided)

Written by Steph Hawes, Academy Head, Greenfields Partnership

Photo courtesy of Barnby North Cove