We are the new School Council

Our School Councillors meet once every two weeks.  At these meetings, we have the chance to discuss and implement ideas that could help improve the school.  These might be problems that need to be solved or new ideas.  

Autumn Term 2022

At the start of  term we decided it was an ideal opportunity for us to elect a brand new School Council.  Thank you to all the pupils who were involved last year.  You all made valuable contributions to benefit the whole school.

Each class has elected two pupils.  They have been chosen for demonstrating our School Values - 

being respectful, ambitous, creative, inclusive, independent and pupils who persevere.

We have already changed our School Houses - classes were asked for ideas and three new teams have been formulated.  The Houses are Sapphire, Ruby and Emerald.

In preparation for Christmas we have written letters to different organisations for some prizes for the raffle and will be helping decorate the school.

Fundraising

Our School Council organised an Easter Egg competition across the school. Entries were carefully judged by the councillors who decided on who the worthy winners would be. The School Council raised £17.

Monday 4th April 2022

Q: How are we encouraged to be ambitious at Woodcock Hill?

Since our last meeting we have been thinking about what it means to be ambitious?  How are we encouraged to be ambitious? and how can we become even more ambitious?

Pupils shared the responses of their classmates:

• We are encouraged to follow our dreams.
• We should try to push ourselves and 'have a go.'
• Have a positive attitude.
• Start small.
• Try to new things.
• Keep trying.
• Never give up.
• Practise makes perfect.
• Motivate and praise each other.
• Set personal goals.
• Be proud of ourselves and what we have accomplished so far.
• Enter competitions.
• Take part and join in.
• Be inclusive.
• F.A.I.L = First Attempt In Learning.

We looked at the Learning Environment and found inspirational quotes around school and information about famous people from Birmingham. We also sing songs about being motivated and ambitious during singing lessons.

Monday 21st March 2022

Q: How do we show respect at Woodcock Hill

We have been continuing to promote our School Values and have asked our classes how we can ensure that we are being respectful.  We feel that it is important to show everyone we meet with respect,  in and out of school. We have generated a collective list to report back:

• Being kind and helping others. E.g. when they fall over.
• Manners are very important - we should always say "Please." and "Thank you."  
• We can hold doors open  and say "After you!" to allow others to do things before ourselves.
• We should respect our teachers, parents, carers and other adults.
• We can give compliments and praise others for their achievements.
• We never say mean words that could hurt someone else's feelings.
• We respect other people's property -we pick things up off the floor even if they do not belong to us or we did not put them there. 
• We respect property and things at home that people have provided for us.
• We respect other people's space.
• We make people feel welcome.
• We respect our elders knowing that they are more experienced and wiser.
• We can help the elderly in the community e.g. giving up our seat on the bus.
• We respect people that are younger than us knowing that they are still learning.
• We respect the feelings of others knowing that they might not feel the same as us in given situations or they may be feeling shy or self-conscientious.
• We know everyone is different and keep not nice thoughts to ourselves.

Any other business:  we shared our ideas for a School Council Easter Competition and it was decided that we will hold a 'Decorate an Egg' competition.

Monday 14th March 2022

Q: How are you encouraged to be creative at Woodcock Hill?

At school we are encouraged to be creative and express ourselves.  We decided that in order to be creative we all need to feel safe and secure.  We discussed this in our classes and shared our ideas today:

• We enjoy all aspects of Design and Technology lessons, from planning, resourcing, making and evaluating.
• We enjoy art lessons where we are encouraged to 'have a go' and develop our ideas.  We especially love sketching but all children have opportunities to use pastels, chalks, charcoal, paint and clay aswell.  
• (Y5 requested an Art Club which Mrs Clarson said she would investigate.)
• We enjoy looking at the work on display boards that celebrate our creativeness.
• We can be creative during P.E. lessons - especially through dance and gymnastics.
• Some pupils attend Gardening Club and Lunchtime Well-Being Group Sessions.
• We can get creative with our topic related homework tasks.
• Some pupils enjoy using Purple Mash and See-Saw to get creative digitally.
• Some pupils use reading to help them be more creative.
• Some pupils enjoy Mindful colouring during rainy breaks.
• We have opportunities to poetry and stories.
• We have the opportunity to play the ukulele in Y3 and Y4.
• Competitions - e.g World Book Day, Shelters in Y3, shields in Y4.

We decided that we need to celebrate being creative more by encouraging pupils to share what they do outside school e.g. Dance and music clubs.

Monday 7th February 2022

Q: How can we include everyone all of the time in everything we do?

Being 'Inclusive' is one of our school values.  We wanted to check that everyone understood the meaning of the word and how it works at Woodcock Hill.

The School Council members reported back their finding following class discussions.

• Everyone is different
• Everyone should be included no matter what!
• We should give each other support.
• Help others if they have learning differences.
• Respect children from different backgrounds.
• Some children are good at some things and everyone is good at something.
• Listen to other childrens' opinions, feelings and thoughts.
• Share ideas and interests.
• If someone is on their own go and talk to them.  
• Smile at everyone.
• Ask other children to play with you.
• If someone asks if they can join in say, "Sure you can - there is always room for one more!"

How many different nationalities are in your class?

We have found out that at Woodcock Hill Primary School there are 19 different ethnicities, such as Afghanistan, Albanian, Bangladeshi, Caribbean, Kurdish and more.

During class discussions we enjoyed listening to each other talk about where different children came from.  It was interesting to hear how some children have families living a long way away and we thought about how that would feel.  We also talked about how clever the children at our school are who talk English at school but a different language at home.  

Monday 24th January 2022

Q: What is good about our School?

The School Council members reported back on their findings following class discussions.

• After-school clubs
• Zone Boards
• Number-lines
• Singing
• Celebration Assemblies
• Computers
• Maths
• P.E.
• Summer Camp
• Art
• Music and ukulele lessons
• Trips 
• Friends
• Well-being
• Teachers looking after us
• The Head Teacher
• Teaching methods
• How people treat you
• Friends
• Having fun
• Stationary equipment
• Feeling appreciated
• School Values
• Playtime.

Monday 10th January 2022

Q: Do pupils understand the marking policy?

How can we re-visit topics learnt?

What do we think about homework?

The School Council members reported back on their findings following class discussions.

Each class had shared the abbreviations using when the teachers mark our work and it was good to remind everyone so that we all understand.

We decided that revision time would help us remember old topics and we could look back at our books and Knowledge Organisers during a reading time.  We also would like more quizzes to see who has remembered the most.  

Pupils like the Homework Grids set out for each topic because they enjoyed making things and doing their own research.  Some pupils asked if they could have more Science homework.

Pupils love on-line learning, especially Purple Mash, Timetable Rock-stars and See-saw.

Monday 6th December 2022

Q: How do you know you are improving?

What do you do if you are stuck?

The School Council members reported back on their findings following class discussions.

You know you are improving:

• You move up the Zone Board.
• House-points
• Celebration Assemblies
• Golden Time
• Golden raffle tickets.
• Seeing  L.O.A. on your work and feedback from teachers. 

If you are stuck, you can:

• Ask the teacher and Teaching Assistant
• Put up your hand
• Ask a friend
• Try it on your whiteboard
• Use equipment - number-lines, counters, Base-ten, number squares, information around the Classroom, the Learning Wall, topic walls, dictionaries, Thesauri, reference books.
• Try another question and come back to it.
• Ask myself what do I already know the could help me?
• Be brave and have a go - you might surprise yourself?

Monday 22nd November 2022

Q: How can we improve the School Environment?

The School Council members reported back on their findings following class discussions.

• Remind pupils to put litter in the bin and turn off lights when they are not needed.
• Re-establish rules for the Quiet Areas in the playgrounds.
• Remind pupils to use the Friendship Bench and Bus stop.
• New taps in the Boys Toilet (Y3/4)

Tuesday 16th November 2022

Q: What are our responsibilities as the School Council of Woodcock Hill?

We will:

• Show visitors around the school.
• Be an ambassador for the school at important events.
• Identify what our classes think about issues and give feedback at meetings.
• Improve parts of the school that are a priority.
• Help organise events.
• Decide on action points for improvement.

We promise to:

• Have commitment to the school
• Be approachable and friendly
• Communicate well with adults and pupils
• Be a good listener
• Show initiative

In addition, we also elected a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and Secretary. We received School Council Badges and Books for taking notes.