School Council (led by Mrs Read) 

Mrs Read: readn@loughton.school

This is a formal group of pupils who will seek and represent the views of their peers. As well as ideas for improving the school environment, they will help to fundraise for important national causes, such as Comic Relief, our Christmas Giving Tree and Odd Socks Day. Through their role of school councillor, children will learn about democracy. They will learn how to present their views and how it is important to listen to the opinions of others. Through this they will develop the skills of participation and communication and discover how to resolve conflict fairly. Above all, the aim will be to make positive changes to the school all whilst having fun! 

 

2022-2023

Meet our newly elected school council:

 

Autumn term update:

This term, School Council has been very much focused on raising awareness within their classes of those less fortunate than themselves and in finding ways to help others with Christmas approaching. They decided to support the local Children's Centre with their appeal for new and nearly new items for children up to the age of 18. They also decided to promote the MK Food Bank's reverse advent calendar. They spoke to their classes, designed posters, which were then placed in prominent places around the school, and arranged for donations to be collected, sorted and counted. We have been truly touched by the compassion they have shown towards others.

Next term, School Council would like to focus on some fundraising for the school, as well as looking at ways to support other charities. They have come up with lots of great ideas and it will be exciting to see what they will arrange next.

Spring term update:

It has been a very busy term for the School Council who have arranged two successful fundraisers this term.

They spent the first half of the term discussing which charities they would like to support and thinking of new ways to raise funds for the school. After the success of last year’s Red Nose Day, they decided that this would be a great place to start and through a non-uniform day and after school cake sale, they raised approximately £800 for this very worthy charity. Year 3 and 4 School Councillors helped to set up the cake sale and Year 5 and 6 School Councillors helped with the selling. We were incredibly proud of all of them.

They then put forward a new fundraising idea of a ‘Break the Rules’ day and after consulting with Mrs Green, they decided to raise money for new books for the school library. There were a total of 10 rules that children could choose to break, for 20p each, from wearing their own clothes to dying their hair and having less healthy snacks and drinks than would usually be allowed! Most children took part and in total we raised £480. Mrs Green agreed to match this amount and then rounded it up to £1000! School Council will be involved in deciding which books to purchase for the library after consulting with their classes early next term.

Summer term update:

School Council started the term excited by the amount of money raised for ‘Break the Rules’ day on the last day of the spring term. The first half term of the summer term entailed lots of discussion about how to spend the money, including devising and completing surveys with their classmates to decide what sort of books would be most enjoyed by as many children as possible within the school. We then had a very successful trip to Waterstones in Central Milton Keynes to hand pick a wonderful selection of books, which are being added to the school library.

In the second half term, the children have been enjoying debating various issues, including whether cats are better than dogs and whether snowy days are better than sunny days. The children have been using their powers of persuasion to try to change their opponent’s mind from their initial stance. 

We are so proud of the school council for all their hard work this year. They really have been a credit to the school and to their families. A special mention must go to our lovely Year 6 school councillors who will be leaving the school at the end of the summer term: Elena-Mary, Lauren, Zainab and Kayla. We wish them well for their journey into secondary school and hope that they will continue to be actively involved in school life. 

We asked School Council to tell us how they felt about their role this year. Here are some of their responses:

“We are the people who have made a huge difference. I’m glad to know I was part of it.” Alex C, Y3

“I like to know that I’ve made a difference to the school” Emmy, Y4

“It was an honour and a privilege when people voted for me” Alex M-G, Y5

“It makes me feel proud for being a school councillor” Alice, Y5

“I feel like I’m part of something. My hard work has paid off” Aila, Y5

“It made me feel happy. I enjoyed making new friends in other year groups“ Elena-Mary, Year 6

 

2021-2022

Autumn term update:

The school council promoted our harvest festival appeal where we raised 563 items for the MK food bank. The children displayed, sorted through and boxed these donations ready for collection. They then went on to promote our Christmas 'giving tree' donations where we received a record breaking number of new and nearly-new presents for disadvantaged children in Milton Keynes.

Spring term update:

We have a very keen and enthusiastic school council who were delighted when meetings could resume properly in the spring term! Our School Council have shown themselves to be extremely caring and aware of the needs of those less fortunate than themselves. They have actively supported national and local causes such as collecting harvest donations for the MK Food Bank and celebrating difference with ‘Odd Socks Day’ in November. In March, they managed to raise in excess of £1000 for ‘Red Nose Day’ (Comic Relief) with their initiative to dress in red for the day and hold a ‘design a red nose’ competition. On this day, they also joined forces with The Green Team to host a cake sale with proceeds being shared equally between Comic Relief and Shelter.

The School Council are looking forward to more fundraising later in the year, where they hope to be able to contribute towards the renovation of the school’s internal courtyard. Together, they will debate how the area could be used to benefit all students and how they can raise awareness and funds. Now that restrictions have been relaxed, watch this space to see what they will achieve next!

Summer term update:

This term, School Council have discussed playground games and equipment and sought their classmates views. They have debated animal testing, showing compassion with a unanimous vote that beauty products should be tested on humans rather than on animals. Just before Easter, they implemented the BIG Little Give campaign and sorted out two trolley loads worth of donations for the MK Food Bank. Further to a very kind donation from a parent, the School Council sorted out the donations allocating them to different parts of the school and wrote thank you letters to show their appreciation. 

Next month, the school's governing body has invited the School Council to their meeting to discuss ideas for improvement to the school. The children will be given questions to ask their classmates and will report back to the governors in due course. It is still hoped that School Council will be able to add their views, and that of their peers, to the redevelopment of the school's courtyard when this gets underway. 

It has been wonderful seeing the School Council work so diligently to support the School as well as the local community and I would like to extend a special thanks to our Year 6 councillors, Patricia, Danai, Kerry-Anne and Shay who we will miss greatly as they move on to their secondary schools.