Pupil Voice Statement

We believe that children need to be active participants in their education and to feel that their opinions will be heard both within the classroom and in the wider school community. Listening to children and working with them to make positive contributions to the school environment and ethos is of utmost importance to us at the Federation of Winklebury schools.

Student Voice And Pupil Participation Activities

We have a wide range of approaches to support pupil participation and promote student voice and the underlying concepts of democracy:

• School Council representatives from each class working to develop teacher / school led projects e.g. championing pupil voices for fundraising campaigns, the school environment, being the collective voice to add to policies relating to behaviour or antibullying; evaluation of learning activities/the creative curriculum following key extra-curricular learning events like Arts Week, Belonging Week and involvement with staff recruitment
• Prefects chosen from Year 6 pupils by the school who take on playtime responsibilities, show prospective parents around school, support new to school meeting with YR. Additionally, the Head Prefects represent the school at the Armistice Day celebrations in Basingstoke.
• Eco-Champions to take care of the school environment and responsible for organising litter picking and …
• Stormbreak leaders - peer to peer support for playtimes
• VIP – in KS1 classes are chosen everyday so all children can take responsibilities across the year for specific jobs like taking the completed registers, handing out books, being at the front to the line to set an example when walking around school, representing the class in celebration assemblies and other small jobs requested by teachers / LSAs within the classroom.
• Equal and Rights Advocates (EARA) in Y2, Y4 and Y6 working with the United Nation Convention on the Rights of a Child to ensure fairness, respect, kindness and the rights of all children to an education and safe playtime.
• Pupil conferencing as a part of subject management for all subjects
• Peer marking-as part of Assessment for Learning in classes.
• Pupils with additional learning needs are involved in decisions that affect their learning and wellbeing through their IEPs. Pupils are also consulted when they have Annual Reviews.
• Within our nursery setting, turn taking and pupil participation are encouraged through a range of activities to prepare them for school.

Curriculum

Pupil voice and the development of oracy skills are embedded into our curriculum, with teaching and learning activities being used to enable pupils to develop the language skills needed to discuss matters affecting them. Our aim is to give children the oral skills needed to make informed decisions about their lives, their health and wellbeing, and the environment.

Benefits of Pupil Involvement

We believe that there is a positive impact of pupil participation on both their own work and the school environment.

Children volunteering to take on a role within like school council, EARA, Eco-Champions and Strombreak develops increased self-confidence, empowers children to make suggestions and make a difference, gives them a greater sense of responsibility and encourages children to be active citizens within the school community. These behaviour traits have the potential to improve all pupils’ self-esteem by giving them greater responsibility for their own behaviour, which has a positive impact upon learning behaviours in the classroom and subsequently a positive impact on raising pupil outcomes.

Pupils’ learning will improve when their views are taken into consideration. This can only have a positive impact on raising standards.