Our school council is a forum for all pupils to have their say Our School Council Birchfield Community School

Council Representatives Our school council consists of 30 members mainly from year 6 and a few members are from year 5. All of the main positions held on the school council were democratically elected. Chair (Maria Adam) Vice Chair (Samia Arshad) Secretary (Bareerah Sayed) Treasurer (Maryam Ibrahim) We have included representatives from each class in year 6, so that pupils will feel comfortable approaching one of the representatives about any issue that they want to bring up.

What makes our school council successful We have regular meetings Good communication between representatives and our classes. Discussions in our meetings focus on action, rather than deciding what it is the council wants and then asking the teachers to sort it out. Our school council is determined to get exciting projects moving and deal swiftly with issues that trouble pupils. We have a budget which empowers us and allows us to make decisions without having financial constraints. Our teachers are supportive and allow us regular time to hold meetings where we are able to discuss relevant issues and make important decisions.

4 members of our active school council are also members of the Handsworth Young Peoples Parliament. Members from the Handsworth Assosiation of Schools meet at regular intervals to discuss and debate relevant local or national issues. In the last meeting that took place members had to consider the issue of recycling and global sustainability. Handsworth Y.P.P

Terms of reference One of the first duties the current active school council undertook was to create its own terms of reference. All members of the school council have agreed to these terms by signing an agreement. These are the terms of reference the council have agreed upon.

Maximum of 30 members on the school council 2/3 of the committee must be present to ensure that decisions are democratic Membership must consist of only Year 5 and year 6 pupils A minority of council members may be co-opted by the Head Teacher, the Assistant Head for upper key stage two faculty and the Citizenship Co-Ordinator

The Council has the right to annually run the school one morning a year, this is called pupils as leaders day The Council will assist staff in moving the school delivery plan forward Each of the following committees will have its own chair: School Meals, Newspaper, Finance, Green and Clean and the Extended Schools

A meeting can be called by a minimum of 5 members For an emergency meeting a chair must always be present If no chair or vice chair are present at a meeting another member from the meeting must be voted on as acting chair

School council meetings will normally take place every Thursday morning first thing. If this is inappropriate or more meetings are required, Councillors must help decide on alternative/further meetings. The council must report back to the rest of the school about meetings and consultation must take place between councillors and other classes before important decisions are made School council must monitor and report on personal strategies so that the school council can become a cohesive team

Y.P.P members must follow the rules set out by the Handsworth Association of Schools Young Peoples Parliament Councillors must wear school uniform at all time Councillors must demonstrate exemplary behaviour at all times Councillors must adhere to the rotas set out by the school council at dinner time and play time

This has been a presentation by Birchfield Community School