Pupil Voice
Pupil Voice is one of the ways by which we ensure the children are placed at the heart of all that we do at Travis St Lawrence.
Class discussions, voting opportunities and other forms of opinion sharing feature widely across the school, for we believe understanding children’s perceptions of their educational experiences helps us effectively impact on student engagement and achievement.
More formally, Pupil Voice operates by means of a Pupil Parliament. We have Pupil Parliament meetings at Upper Site and Lower Site. The Pupil Parliament consist of two members of each class, who have been elected by their peers.
The Pupil Parliament meet monthly to express and act upon interests, requests and suggestions as put forward by the children from all year groups. Meetings are held, chaired and recorded as required by members of the group to organise and enact, re-evaluate and feedback on projects undertaken. Often, other children, along with governors and Friends of Travis where necessary, are sought out to support bigger endeavours.
The processes involved in being part of the Pupil Parliament (from election manifestos and communicating effectively, to chairing meetings and handling correspondence), enhance a wide range of skills required in holding representative responsibilities; skills that enable children to interact with the adult world and develop a foundation that they can build upon throughout their lives. Children around the school come to learn that their opinions are of value, that their voices can and should be heard, and that their suggestions do have merit.
Over the last few years the Pupil Parliament has contributed to different ventures:
- Arranged for a local artist (and children) to update the painted timeline in the hall at upper site
- Been instrumental in working with the Anti-Bullying group to introduce buddies and buddy bags
- Contributed to the new school vision
- Requested, and received, funding (via the Governors) to begin improvements to the upper site toilets
- Decided on the details of charity events for the NSPCC
- Sought the opinions of children regarding every day life in school with a view to considering adapting break and Collective Worship times, clubs and fund raising ideas.
- Been responsible for the school's entry into the church Christmas Competition
- Run two different competitions across the school