At The Children’s House, our child-centred approach goes beyond the classroom, and listening carefully to the children is fundamental to maintaining this ethos. The School Council provides an opportunity for the children to make their voices heard in and out of a classroom context, and for them to play a genuine role in the day-to-day running of the school.

The Council members are democratically elected every term - children volunteer to take part and then a vote is held in each year-group. The elected council members are encouraged to talk to their peers regularly to discuss any concerns or positive feedback. Fortnightly meetings are held to discuss whatever is on the children’s minds, with a particular emphasis on finding out what they are happiest with in the school, and any areas where they think changes or improvements could be made. The outcomes of these meetings are relayed back to the whole school in assemblies. 

A recent example of the School Council’s positive impact, involved a discussion about the playground and break-time activities. The children felt that the multi-use pitch was mainly used for football, excluding many children. A timetable was subsequently drawn up to ensure access to a range of sports, with an equal balance of girls-only, boys-only, and mixed sessions. With the support of supervising adults, the space is now being used for hockey, gymnastics, football, basketball and agility activities.