School Council / Cyngor Ysgol
All schools in Wales are required to have a school council (National Assembly for Wales, 2005). The purpose of a school council is to make sure that pupil voice is well represented as a school develops and implements new policies and identifies priorities for improvement. School councils provide pupils with opportunities to discuss matters relating to their school, and to make representations to the governing body and the headteacher. A school council can also propose and take forward initiatives and projects on behalf of their peers, and be involved in strategic planning and processes such as the school development plan, governing body meetings and staff appointments. The school council must be elected democratically and meet at least six times a year.
Here at Sketty Primary, we have a very active School Council. Our school council is elected at the start of each academic year in September and is made up of pupil representative from Year 2 to Year 6. They meet on a regular basis. Read on to find out what they have been working on recently.
Article 12: Every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously.
Erthygl 12: Mae gan blant yr hawl i ddweud eu barn ynghylch yr hyn a ddylai ddigwydd pan fo oedolion yn gwneud penderfyniadau sy’n effeithio arnyn nhw, ac i’w barn gael ei hystyried.
School Council 2023 -2024
Autumn Term
Article 2 - Everyone has rights.
Article 3 - The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all things that affect children.
Article 12 - Every child has the right to have a say in all matters affecting them, and to have their views taken seriously.
Article 13 - Every child must be free to say what they think.
Article 15 - Every child has the right to meet with other children and to join groups and organisations, as long as this does not stop other people from enjoying their rights.
Article 16 - The right to privacy.
Article 19 - The right to be kept safe from harm.
Article 29 - Education must encourage a child's respect for children's rights.
This term we have been very busy continuing our work on updating our school's Anti-bullying policy and petitioning for a zebra crossing outside our school.
Anti-bullying Policy.
This term we have been completing our policy work on prevention.
Councillors decided it would be a good idea to have some Anti-bullying posters displayed around our school to send out positive messages to pupils to continue to be kind to each other and to respect everyone.
Councillors worked together to create a success criteria for the Anti-bullying posters.
This is the success criteria that the Council generated as a guideline for their peers to use when designing their Anti-bullying poster:
The Sketty School badge.
Unicef Rights Respecting School Silver Award badge
The School motto- ‘BE THE BEST YOU CAN BE’ and ‘KIND HANDS KIND FEET KIND WORDS’
Health and Well-being Dewi dragon, our school mascot .
The relevant children’s rights articles. Articles 15, 19, 29 & 31.
No outsiders messages ‘All Different, All Welcome’ ‘Everyone is welcome in our school’ ‘No one is the same but everyone is equal’.
Kind messages for example, ‘Be kind to each other’ ‘Take care of each other’, ‘Be the reason someone smiles today’.
Drawings to show kindness to each other.
Bright colours to attract attention to the poster.
Big bold writing for others to be able to read easily.
Pupils are currently in the process of designing their posters. We look forward to sharing some of the designs with you soon.
Zebra Crossing petition
Another project for us this term has been creating a petition for a zebra crossing outside our school, by Jeff's gate. We have been without a school crossing patrol for some time now and our pupils, parents, staff and governors have told us they would like a permanent crossing so that we can all feel safer when crossing the road to and from school.
Our pupils, parents, staff and governors have had the opportunity to sign a petition for a zebra crossing at Jeff's gate. We have collected the petitions and are currently arranging a time to meet with Swansea Council to hand over our petitions and discuss this matter further.
Congratulations to our new School Council 2023 - 2024!
Many congratulations to the following pupils who were voted to be Class Councillors by their peers. Da iawn!
Oliva Thompson Y1KP
Yasmeen Salamat Y1LO/SG
Osian Earley Y2MJ
Elena Jenkins Y2ER/SM
Ruben Austin Y3JG
Indie Garaati Y3NT
Max Price Y4EJ
Gracie Cooze Y4SK
Anya Korochkina Y5JH
Hally Carra Y5WD
Pierce Hellam Y6SW
Lila Willis Y6SW
Ethan Ciril Y6LJ
Carmen Hartery Y6LJ
End of Year Special Thanks
Many thanks to all our School Councillors 2022 - 2023 for all your hard work this year.
Your commitment and efforts to your work as a councillor in our school are greatly appreciated by us all.
You are all amazing!
Wishing all success in the future.
School Council Meeting 22.6.23
Article 2 - Everyone has rights.
Article 3 - The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all things that affect children.
Article 12 - Every child has the right to have a say in all matters affecting them, and to have their views taken seriously.
Article 13 - Every child must be free to say what they think.
Article 15 - Every child has the right to meet with other children and to join groups and organisations, as long as this does not stop other people from enjoying their rights.
Article 16 - The right to privacy.
Article 19 - The right to be kept safe from harm.
Article 29 - Education must encourage a child's respect for children's rights.
We are continuing our focus on prevention in our Anti-bullying policy.
In today’s meeting we reviewed the Action Plan we created from the Anti-bullying Survey Responses. All councillors said the Action Plan is working as there have been no issues raised from pupils or staff since we delivered a whole school feedback assembly on pupil responses from the Anti-bullying survey and put the Action Plan in place. We are very pleased that our Action Plan is working and we will continue to monitor it.
As part of the prevention process we read through the Welsh Assembly Government Anti-bullying document: Rights, Respect and Equality Guide for Children click here
https://www.gov.wales/rights-respect-equality-guide-children
This document is really useful for us to use whilst we are developing our school's Anti-bullying policy and it also an important document for pupils to access. We have emailed the document to teachers and School Councillors will read through the WAG guidance with their class. We have given each class a paper copy of the document to display in the classroom so that pupils can use it as resource.
We have also provided each class with a booklet that has useful website links for help and support with bullying, please see the Anti-bullying Help and Advice document below.
Updated By Beau and Kenzie.
School Council visit the Senedd 24.5.23
Article 3 - The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all things that affect children.
Article 12 - Every child has the right to have a say in all matters affecting them, and to have their views taken seriously.
Article 13 - Every child must be free to say what they think.
Article 29 - Education must encourage a child's respect for children's rights.
On the Wednesday 24th May, School Council went to the Senedd in Cardiff.
We arrived at the Senedd and went through security. We met our tour guide and commenced our tour.
Firstly, we were invited to go to the debating chambers where we met Sioned Williams, Luke Fletcher, and Julie James, who are members of the Senedd and represent Swansea West. After talking with them, we watched the members of the Senedd debate. It was very interesting.
Then we had the opportunity to explore the Senedd, we learned some interesting facts about the Senedd building and how they recycle rainwater and use the sun to heat up and light their building. Next, we visited the old debating chamber and we participated in a debate about Anti-bullying. We shared our opinions on this topic and had a lot to say as this year on School Council we are updating and developing an Anti-bullying policy for our school.
Finally, it was time we head back to school and say goodbye to the Senedd. We really enjoyed the visit and have learned lots about the Senedd and it's members. Thank you to everyone at the Senedd for making our visit so special.
Updated by Eva & Rebecca
School Council Anti-Bullying Survey Results Assembly 30.3.23
Article 2 - Everyone has rights.
Article 3 - The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all things that affect children.
Article 12 - Every child has the right to have a say in all matters affecting them, and to have their views taken seriously.
Article 13 - Every child must be free to say what they think.
Article 15 - Every child has the right to meet with other children and to join groups and organisations, as long as this does not stop other people from enjoying their rights.
Article 16 - The right to privacy.
Article 19 - The right to be kept safe from harm.
Article 29 - Education must encourage a child's respect for children's rights.
Y6 School Councillors held a whole school assembly to talk to pupils about the anti-bullying survey results.
Firstly, we thanked all the children for taking the time to complete the survey, either on their own, or with the support of their teacher/s.
Then, we explained that the results of the survey which overall were very positive.
The majority of children said they feel safe in school, walking to and from school, and in the community. Pupils also said they feel safe online in school and online at home. Most children have a good understanding of what bullying is.
As a council, we are currently addressing any issues that were raised through the responses of the survey with pupils and staff. We have put together an action plan to take on board any concerns that children may have and we have feedback this information to Mrs. Phillips so that we can aim to solve these problems and reassure pupils.
Next term, we will be finalising our Anti-Bullying policy, focusing on prevention; reporting bullying; responding to bullying; measuring progress; communication; further support and producing an Anti-Bullying document for all pupils, staff, governors and parents at our school.
Updated by Eva and Rebecca.
Senedd Outreach Education session with School Council 23.3.23
Article 3 - The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all things that affect children.
Article 12 - Every child has the right to have a say in all matters affecting them, and to have their views taken seriously.
Article 13 - Every child must be free to say what they think.
Article 29 - Education must encourage a child's respect for children's rights.
On Tuesday 23rd March, School Council attended a Senedd Outreach Education session with Amber Lewis. We learnt what happens in the Senedd, who makes decisions, how many members there are and how they are chosen. It was a really interesting and informative session. School Council have shared the Senedd PowerPoint presentation with the teachers so that council members can deliver a lesson with their class about the Senedd.
School Council will be visiting the Senedd in the Summer Term and are looking forward to talking to Senedd members about their work in the Senedd.
Updated by Sofia.
School Council Meeting 11.3.23
Article 3 - The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all things that affect children.
Article 12 - Every child has the right to have a say in all matters affecting them, and to have their views taken seriously.
Article 13 - Every child must be free to say what they think.
Article 19 - The right to be kept safe from harm.
Article 29 - Education must encourage a child's respect for children's rights.
As a council we talked about the anti-bullying survey results.
The results of the survey overall were very positive.
The majority of children said they feel safe in school, walking to and from school, and in the community. Pupils also said they feel safe online in school and online at home. Most children have a good understanding of what what bullying is.
Y6 councillors will be presenting these findings to all pupils and staff in a whole school assembly.
Updated by Isaac.
School Council Meeting 3.2.23
Article 3 - The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all things that affect children.
Article 12 - Every child has the right to have a say in all matters affecting them, and to have their views taken seriously.
Article 13 - Every child must be free to say what they think.
Article 16 - The right to be kept safe from harm.
Article 29 - Education must encourage a child's respect for children's rights.
We looked at and discussed the results from the Anti-Bullying survey that we had asked pupils to complete. The results are very positive and pupils said they feel really safe in and outside school. There was some constructive feedback from pupils about further improving safety in our school which we have addressed with Mrs Phillips and these ideas will be put in place. We will continue to monitor pupils safety and well-being at Sketty Primary to ensure every child is safe from harm and looked after.
Website updated by Kenzi.
School Council Meeting 13.1.23
Article 3 - The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all things that affect children.
Article 12 - Every child has the right to have a say in all matters affecting them, and to have their views taken seriously.
Article 13 - Every child must be free to say what they think.
Article 16 - The right to be kept safe from harm.
Article 29 - Education must encourage a child's respect for children's rights.
We continued our discussions about bullying and talked about what discrimination is and the places and spaces where bullying may happen. We shared with the rest of the council the online Anti-Bullying survey that Y6 councillors have created for the pupils in our school complete over the next two weeks. The questions for the survey were generated by school council and the pupils' answers from the survey will help us to ensure our school and our community is a safe place for all.
Y6 school councillors, Sofia, Eva and Rebecca talked to our schools' chair of governors, Mrs Suzanne Berry, about the work school council have been doing to produce an Anti-Bullying policy on behalf of all the children in our school. Mrs Berry was very impressed with all of our hard work and she asked us lots of questions about our future plans with the policy.
Y6 school councillors have e-mailed teachers the online link for the survey for the children in their class to complete, if they wish. We look forward to hearing the pupils responses and collating the data to make sure that all of the children in Sketty primary school are happy and kept safe from harm, in school and outside of school.
Website updated by Rebecca and Eva Y6 Class Councillors.
School Council Meeting 2.12.22
Article 3 - The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all things that affect children.
Article 12 - Every child has the right to have a say in all matters affecting them, and to have their views taken seriously.
Article 13 - Every child must be free to say what they think.
Article 16 - The right to be kept safe from harm.
Article 29 - Education must encourage a child's respect for children's rights.
In today's meeting we talked about the different types of bullying: created our own definition of what bullying is and explored what safeguarding means.
Website updated by: Sofia and Eva Y6 Class Councillors.
School Council Meeting 11.11.22
Article 3 - The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all things that affect children.
Article 12 - Every child has the right to have a say in all matters affecting them, and to have their views taken seriously.
Article 13 - Every child must be free to say what they think.
Article 16 - The right to be kept safe from harm.
Article 29 - Education must encourage a child's respect for children's rights.
This week we have started to create an anti-bullying policy for our school. As a council we talked about what bullying is; how safe we feel in school, on the way to and from school, in the local community and online. We discussed diversity, inclusion for all, respect, kindness, friendship and what more we could do as a school community to help prevent bullying and what practical steps would help us and our peers to feel safer in school, in the local community and online.
Website updated by: Isaac & Sofia Y6 Class Councillors.
School Council Meeting 7.10.22
School Council had a great first meeting!
We introduced ourselves and talked about the role of a School Councillor.
We discussed our vision as a council which is to ensure every child's voice is heard and their rights are upheld.
Our focus this year will be to create an Anti-Bullying policy with input from all the children in our school.
Article 15 - Every child has the right to join clubs and groups as long as it does not stop others from enjoying their rights.
Article 19 - Every child has the right to be kept safe from harm.
Article 29 - Education must encourage a child's respect for others.
Article 31 - Every child has the right to relax and play.
Keep an eye on our blog for updates on our work!
Website updated by Y6 Class Councillors Isaac, Sofia, Eva and Rebecca.
Congratulations to our new School Council 2022 - 2023!
Many congratulations to the following pupils who were voted to be Class Councillors by their peers. Da iawn!
Grace Lancaster Y1KP/SP
Ruby Evans Y1ER/LO
Theo Thompson Y2MC
Baxter Phillips Y2DD/VE
Ayra Williams Y3MJ
Tiana Anderson Y3NT
Finlay Spratt Y4LJ
Max Di-Francesco Y4SK
Kenzi O'Connor Y5JH
Beau Kavanagh Y5WD
Isaac Meadowcroft Y6SW
Eva Ellison Y6JC/SLJ
Class Councillors will receive support from Deputy Class Councillors.
Website updated by Y6 Class Councillors Eva, Rebecca, Isaac and Sofia.
School Council and Rights Respecting School Ambassadors meet with Estyn Inspectors.
June 2022
On Tuesday 14th June, at the Guildhall in Swansea, our School Councillors and Rights Respecting School Ambassadors spoke with Estyn inspectors about Children’s Rights and their participation with Swansea Council as part of the Councils’ inspection process.
Our pupils spoke about their involvement in Swansea Councils’ Play Sufficiency Assessment and Swansea becoming a Human Rights City. School Councillors and Rights Respecting Ambassadors also talked about their work embedding Children’s Rights in our school.
School Council shared the work they have done this year for the new curriculum, where they gathered pupils’ ideas for AOLEs and feedback to staff and governors they also spoke about their input into the schools Restorative Practice and Emotion Regulation policy.
Rights Respecting School Ambassadors talked about their work with Well-being and Mental Health at our school this year. They shared their involvement in UNICEF’s Outright Mental Health Campaign and their Super Ambassadors Special Mission from the Children’s Commissioner of Wales with Well-being.
Estyn Inspectors were very impressed with our Councillors and Ambassadors contributions and thanked them for attending the meeting and for their good practice and participation with Children’s Rights at our school and with Swansea Council.
Interviewing for the new Deputy Headteacher
June 2022
On Friday 10th June, members of our School Council were involved in the interview process of appointing a new deputy head for September.
To prepare for the interview, School Councillors generated questions to ask the candidates. They created a table to record the applicants’ responses and councillors’ comments so they could feedback to the Governing body.
On the day of the interview, the candidates answered councillors’ questions about their experience and told them what they had to offer to our school. Councillors reported their thoughts and findings back to the Governors who took their feedback on board to make their final decision.
On behalf of all the children at Sketty Primary, School Council would like to congratulate Mr Lloyd Jones on his new position as deputy head at our school and look forward to welcoming him into our school family in September.
School Council contribute to the revision of the Behaviour Policy
May 2022
During the last few months, School Council have been talking about behaviour. Mrs. Phillips and the Governors wanted our input on the behaviour policy. We have looked at a draft version of the policy on behalf of the council and all the pupils of Sketty Primary. We made comments about what we thought needed to be added or changed. We talked to Mrs. Phillips about our findings. She took our opinions onboard and has added them into the policy.
Sketty Primary School Councillors meet the the Countess of Wessex at the Swansea Arena official opening ceremony
March 2022
On Wednesday March 9th 2022, ten members of our Sketty Primary School Council, Mrs Philips our headteacher, Mrs Berry our Chair of Governors and Miss Lewis School Council co-ordinator, were invited to the opening ceremony of Swansea Arena by the Countess of Wessex. We were very excited to see the new arena and to meet the Countess.
When we arrived, we met Mr Phil Roberts the Chief Executive of Swansea Council and he gave us a tour of the arena, it was amazing! We were told the arena cost millions of pounds to create. It has moving seats that can be folded away into the wall to allow space when seating isn't needed. It can seat up to 3,500 people.
After the tour we spoke with the Deputy Lieutenant Alan Brayley, as we awaited the Countess' arrival. We met pupils and staff from other schools who were also invited; Blaenymaes; Penyrheol and Pentrehafod. They were just as excited as we were.
We were asked to greet the Countess at Swansea’s Costal Park, which is next door to the arena. We were lucky enough to be the first school to meet the Countess when she arrived. She spoke to us and asked us how we were. She was really kind. The Countess thanked us for coming to help her plant a tree for the Queen’s Canopy and to celebrate Swansea being a Queen's Green Canopy “Champion City”. Harry was asked to help plant the tree for the Queen's Jubilee, with the Countess, he even shared her trowel! The Countess asked all the children to come back to the Costal Park to check on the tree to make sure it was growing well.
After planting, the Countess had a tour of the arena and spoke to all the schools and dignitaries who were at the event. We met the Lord Lieutenant, High Sheriff of West Glamorgan and the Lord Mayor of Swansea. They were really nice.
After the Countess had officially opened the arena by unveiling the plaque Manon did a courtesy and presented the Countess with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Freya explained the sentiment behind the flowers in the bouquet, sunflowers to support Ukraine as they are the Ukrainian national flower and daffodils to represent Wales. The Countess thanked us and said they were lovely. William presented the Countess with a pack of greeting cards that our pupils had made. Bella told the Countess that our pupils had used silk printing to make them. The Countess thanked us for the gift and said that she liked the Welsh ladies which were printed on the cards.
Then, it was time for the Countess to leave so we all said goodbye, as she left for her next engagement.
We thoroughly enjoyed our day, it was an honour to meet the Countess of Wessex and help her plant the tree for the Queen's Jubilee. We were also very grateful to be invited to the official opening of Swansea Arena, it was fantastic to be some of the first people to view it. We are super excited to visit again with our families and to fulfil our promise to the Countess and see how the tree is growing!
Click on the following Swansea Online Facebook links to view a video of the Countess of Wessex's arrival and photographs of her officially opening Swansea Arena.
Video
Photos
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=331778142325582&set=a.309854681184595&type=3
School Council contribute towards designing the New Curriculum for Sketty Primary
December 2021
It has been an exciting time at Sketty Primary as we develop the new curriculum for our school. School Council had an extremely important role to play within this as they collated ideas from all learners in school. These ideas were organised into the Areas of Learning in the curriculum and shared back to the school during an assembly. The ideas were presented to teachers and Mrs Phillips (headteacher). These will now be taken on board as we continue to develop our curriculum. Take a look at all of the wonderful ideas the learners in our school came up with.