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What is a School Council? A school council is group of pupils who are elected to represent the views of all pupils and to improve their school.

What do they do? School Council look at different parts of school life to see if they can make them better, such as: Playtimes Uniform Rewards Fund raising Lunch times Behaviour Keeping the school safe Healthy snacks

QWAC School Council also share pupils’ Questions Worries And Concerns Every class has a QWAC box where you can post your concerns and ideas.

Who could they be? Council members are voted for at the beginning of each year by YOU! They need to be reliable, happy to listen, confident enough to give ideas and willing to push to make changes.

How do they do it? School Council meet each month to discuss something different. They gather the ideas and opinions of their class and then share them at the meeting. Often, we will have a visitor at the meeting to hear the ideas, for example if we are discussing school dinners we invite the School Cook to our meeting.

Yes, but does anything actually get DONE? Last year school council met to discuss the following things and this is what happened! Date Meeting Impact September ‘How can we improve attendance and punctuality at Gainsborough?’ Mrs Harding, Attendance Officer invited to the meeting. Ideas for improving attendance and punctuality shared in assembly with the pupils. Stickers given out for Class of the Week and punctuality. Prizes awarded for 100% attendance. October   ‘How can we improve our school library? Are there any particular books we want?’ Mrs Habesch and Mrs Field from the school Reading Team were invited to the meeting The Reading team purchased books suggested by the pupils following the meeting. November ‘Which charity should the school support and why?’ Miss Woolley, SMSC lead invited to the meeting Councillors decided to support Alder Hey Children’s hospital. Money has been raised through different events throughout the year. December ‘What questions should we ask on our pupil questionnaire?’ Pupils helped to decide suitable questions for the pupil questionnaire and with its distribution. January ‘How can we improve school Dinnertimes? Mrs Dawson, Midday Assistant lead invited to the meeting Pupils asked for a Golden Table and certificates for recognition of good behaviour and good table manners in the hall. They also asked for music in the dinner hall and for certain food items to be available. They requested a wider choice of sandwich fillings and cleaner tables and chairs. February ‘How can we be healthier at Gainsborough?’ Miss Garside, Healthy Schools lead invited to the meeting Pupils asked for Golden Mile to be re-instated and for awards for healthy eating. They stated that we should eat healthy snacks Monday – Thursday and have ‘Treat Friday’. They asked for healthier snacks to be available at break time – brown toast, fruit and raisins. Also requested was a ‘Wake up, shake up’ club which is now being considered by the school. March ‘How can we keep Gainsborough clean and tidy?’ Mrs Ellam-Dunn from the site team invited to the meeting. This was discussed because of the results of the Pupil questionnaire where 70% of pupils agreed that the school was clean and tidy and 21% were not sure. Pupils requested ‘Tidiest classroom of the week’ awards from the cleaners and designed and produced posters encouraging children to keep certain areas of the school clean and tidy such as toilets and the library. Librarians have now been appointed to keep the library area tidy. May ‘How should we spend the money raised by Friends of Gainsborough?’ Ideas were submitted to FOG for consideration. June ‘What is behaviour like at Gainsborough?’ Mrs Whiston and Miss Platt, behaviour leads invited to the meeting. Also invited, Mrs Binner, Governor. This was discussed because of the results of the Pupil questionnaire where 43% of pupils agreed that pupils behaved well in the school and 42% were not sure. We now have a new behaviour policy and weekly rewards.

What will School Council talk about this year? Recycling Outdoor Classrooms Behaviour Healthy Schools Wet playtimes After school clubs Matters arising from the pupil questionnaire

You will still have your say even if you are not a councillor.