Welcome to St Nicholas School Council

What is a school council?

A school council provides a meaningful way in which pupils can voice their opinions and have their views taken into account in decisions that impact upon them. At St Nicholas the school council represents the views of all of our pupils. Our school values pupil voice and we believe all of our children have the right to share their thoughts and feelings about their school life and learning environment. Our school council team meet once a month to share ideas from their class, to help make improvements to the school and the way we do things at St Nicholas.

Who are the School Councillors?

At the beginning of every academic year, children will be given the opportunity to put themselves forward to be a member of our School Council. Children from Reception to Year 6, who would like to be a representative, are given the opportunity to stand up and share their reasons for why they would like to be a representative and why they would be the best person for the job. Each class will then make their vote and the School Council for the year ahead is formed!

Congratulations to all the children who make up St Nicholas School Council for this academic year: Poppy, George, Storm, Harriet, Bodhi, Emilee, James, Charlotte, Rocco, Abigail, Cullen, Meghna, Maddie, Jayden.

Our teacher representative Mrs Druce is very proud to lead the school council at St Nicholas. We have a fantastic group of children who are very keen to share their ideas and help to make our school a wonderful place to learn.

Our school Council aims:

• To make sure our school is a happy and safe place for all of our children
• To work together as a team to ensure we can be the best school possible by discussing ideas and making decisions.
• To make sure children have a place to voice their concerns, opinions, and thoughts
• To ensure any suggestions or concerns are listened to and acted upon.
• To organise charity days and fun activities for the school.

What have our school councillors been focusing on this year?

Autumn term 2024

During the Autumn this year...

What does our vision of ‘Dream Big, Shine Bright’ mean to you?

• When we do well at things (Reception)
• Helping others, being kind and working hard (Year 1)
• Achieving our best. Making good choices and trying to improve (Year 2)
• “To achieve our goals and feeling that I have achieved something in class” (Year 3)
• Feeling that we have accomplished something important and we will be rewarded for our hard work in achievement assemblies (Year 4)
• Being unique and the best we can be,  persevering and showing determination (Year 5)
• Working hard and aiming for big goals. Have a dream and let our light shine before others. (Year 6)

How does it impact what you do in and out of school? Share examples.

• We are kind to our friends, we try hard and have good manners. We make good choices with our learning (Year 1)
• We had a tough football match, we lost but tried our best still. I learnt to swim, I had a certificate in DBSB (Year 2)
• Achieving our goals- rock climbing, boxing, swimming. Receiving ‘Man of the match’ in football (Year 3)
• Settling an example to others, being proud of ourselves. Persevering in sports matches and helping others (Year 4)
• When we listen and respect others, when we are kind and thoughtful. When we never give up (Year 5)
• Reaching the finals of a football tournament, completing all stages in swimming. Fundraising for a charity I support (Year 6)

Can you share some examples of the Wow, Ow and Now moments that you experience every day in school?

Wow

• When we write a brilliant sentence, playing in the snow, making a poppy wreath in forest school (Reception)
• Performing in our Christmas play. Seeing a rainbow on my way to school (year 1)
• When I did well in my test. When I go on holiday, riding my bike for the first time (2)
• When I got a DBSB certificate, getting my gymnastics badge (Year 3)
• When it snowed (Year 4)
• When Mrs Hartley sung and danced to supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!! Going to Edgmond Hall. Fun Opal playtimes. Seeing others achieve something amazing (year 5)
• Winning a raffle. Getting a 10 stamp and DBSB certificate. When I became Ragley House Captain (Year 6)

  Ow

• When I got hurt during playtime (reception)
• When we can’t find anyone to play with, when we are lost (year 1)
• When my nan died. When my friend moved school (Year 2)
• When I broke my arm. When my dog died (Year 3)
• When we or a friend gets hurt (year 4)
• When I was struggling with a reading test paper. When I didn’t do well in a test (Year 5)
• When my tics are bad and I struggle to write. When I struggle with my test (Year 6)

Now

• When we put up the Christmas decorations (reception)
• Noticing and appreciating the classroom Christmas lights (Year 1)
• Thrive relaxations, improving my learning (year 2)
• Leaves falling off the trees. When I got my handwriting pen. When it was December 1^st (yr 3)
• Playing in the snow (Year 4)
• Putting up Christmas decorations in the classroom. New Opal equipment. Trying to find the elf (Year 5)
• Getting ‘That lightbulb moment’ in maths. Learning new information. Doing well in a test (year 6)

In recent years our school council team have:

• Helped to organise ‘non- school uniform’ and ‘break the rules’ days to raise money for selected charities.
• Suggested improvements to our new school uniform.
• Helped with electricity saving ideas and created posters for the school.
• Suggested further improvements to our new OPAL playtimes and introduced new resources.
• Voted for our core school values.
• Discussed ways in which we can keep safe in school, including the importance of internet safety

Our School Councillor’s views about their role ….

“I wanted to be a school councillor so I could support my class and be responsible” (Maya, Year 5)

“It makes me feel happy to help my friends” (Cara, Year 2)

“I wanted to help make our school a better place” (Ellie, Year 6)

“I enjoy being a messenger for my class, sharing everyone’s ideas and helping to improve our school” (Ida, Year 3)

“I chose to be a school councillor so I could share important messages with my class” (Maddie, Year 4)

“I enjoy talking about important topics like keeping safe in school and how we can make our playtimes even more fun (Teddy, Year 3)

“I wanted to share my ideas about our school and make it a fun place to learn”

(Harvey, Year 1)