Bigland Green believes that pupils need to be provided with a strong voice so that they can have strong academic and social achievements. The school uses ‘Big Thinking’ (philosophy for children) to promote discussions and debates across all learning. There are a number of other ways in which the school promotes pupils voice.
Termly Pupil Voice
Pupils have the opportunity to evaluate and give their feedback on learning each term. The termly pupil voice exercise is usually carried out by a teacher who is not teaching them regularly so that the feedback is objective and honest. The insights from the exercise are taken into consideration by the school leaders when planning for the next term.
Children’s Leadership Team – CLT
The CLT comprises of 8-10 pupils from Years 4, 5 and 6. The main remit of the CLT is to help governors and school leaders to improve the quality of education provided. They have opportunity to meet key governors, the headteacher and others who are in decision making positions.
The last high profile interaction of the CLT was with Jonathan Slater – the Permanent Secretary to the Department for Education (DfE).
School Council
Each class elects a girl and a boy to the School Council which includes Reception to Year 6 Pupils. At the end of each academic year, pupils self nominate to become a School Councillor. They prepare a verbal manifesto speech which is delivered at the beginning of the academic year before voting takes place.
The School Council meets regularly with the Learning Mentor and/or the headteacher to discuss issues, concerns and ideas. They liaise with Councillors from neighbouring schools and deliver special assemblies to the whole school.
