Print friendlyRegister today
Join the online conference and receive regular email updates. Register now!
Consultation: the key to student leadership
Woodchurch High School is an 11-16 co-educational comprehensive school of 1310 pupils in Wirral, in north-west England. It is a specialist engineering college and has an excellent reputation as a fully inclusive school catering well for its pupils with medical and physical impairment, autistic spectrum disorders, learning difficulties and children in care.
For many years Woodchurch has had form representatives and a school council. However, more recently, we have improved the number of opportunities for pupils to have their say in the running of the school.
Building schools for the future
18 months ago we heard that we were to be the first Wirral school for a rebuild. From the outset, we wanted to ensure that we consulted with pupils and that their views were taken into account. At a design festival, with architects and the local authority, pupils joined discussion groups with staff, governors and local community members. Other specific groups, such as cyclists, were also consulted, and the new build was the context for our year 7 engineering project and year 8 enterprise days. On these occasions, young people worked with architects, horticulture experts and local business people to design the use of external spaces for leisure and learning. They came up with some wonderful designs that reflect their care and concern for the environment and for good community relations, both locally and with Kanah High School, our partner in Uganda. What made these events particularly powerful was the knowledge that some of the designs were to be incorporated into the new build.
Teaching and learning
Another recent innovation has been asking pupils for their feedback on teaching and learning. At the end of particular units of work, subject teachers give pupils an anonymous questionnaire which asks them to evaluate the teaching in terms of strategies used, assessment, lesson structure, and so on. Staff then use pupils’ responses to help them set a target for development. Although some staff were concerned about the ability of pupils to evaluate effectively, the responses reflected the work that has taken place previously on Assessment For Learning and the feedback was invariably mature and reflective. Staff have shared this feedback and how it has informed better practice in the classroom.
Positions of responsibility
Woodchurch strives to develop responsible citizens in many ways. Each of the 60 form groups has elected two eco-representatives with a management role for recycling and they have, in turn, elected members onto the Go4Green Environment Committee. In our work towards Green Flag Eco Award status, these pupils will organise the meetings, chair and take minutes, as well as report back to the school community.
Year 8 pupils do reception duty, which includes welcoming visitors. One hundred And thirty five out of 265 of our 15 to 16 year old pupils are prefects or senior prefects, and do a wonderful job at lunch times supervising our open access policy, at parents’ evenings, and on many other occasions. They and younger students represent school at many external events such as the Wirral health panel and anti-bullying conference, and all pupils are encouraged to get involved in groups such as the Wirral youth executive board, which works with local councillors to determine and aim to meet the needs of young people. Last year, five of our oldest pupils went through a rigorous selection procedure to become Woodchurch young advisers. They organised some very successful consultative events and brought about a number of significant changes in the local community.
Curriculum
The curriculum our pupils follow underpins their success in school and their subsequent life chances. Consequently, we place a great deal of emphasis on listening to what they have to say about their programmes of study. At the age of 14, pupils make choices about the subjects they will study for external exams. This involves detailed consultation with staff, pupils and parents / carers, and enables the school to personalise the curriculum to meet each pupil’s individual needs, skills and interests. We are constantly reviewing the curriculum to meet changing needs and have recently introduced a range of new courses, such as motor vehicle engineering and BTEC sport, as well as extended work placements.
Other aspects
There are many other ways that ‘student voice’ is heard. Pupils who want to be in the annual school production vote on the show they want to perform in; charity committee members choose which charities to support and a new peer mentoring system is being introduced this year. During interview procedures for new staff appointments, children give feedback on lessons by candidates and they form an important panel – one which some candidates have described as the most challenging of all!
When pupils are involved in negative interactions with either their peers or staff, they are always listened to and their perception of the incident is valued and taken into consideration.
What OFSTED said
This year Woodchurch had an extremely important external inspection and the inspectors summed up the impact of our focus and emphasis on student voice in this way: ‘Above all, what the school does best is develop pupils’ confidence in themselves. This is a priceless gift to give its pupils’.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
is Assistant Headteacher and is Acting Headteacher at Woodchurch High School, in Wirral, England, United Kingdom.
