United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) articles supported by developing pupil leadership:

Pupil Leadership at St Mary's

At St Mary's there are lots of opportunities for children to get involved in different groups and councils.

This year we have:

• Pupil Leadership Team

• Prefects

• The Learning Council

• Reading Buddies

• Digital Leaders

• Sports Council

• Friendship Council

• Chaplaincy

• RRS Steering Group

Our Pupil Leadership Team

Their role in school is to set a good example to everyone, showing how they use their learning powers to become great learners. They organise and lead our assemblies including collective worship each week and often accompany visitors around the school.

Meet our Prefects

Our Prefects 

What do you think the role of a prefect involves?

"A prefect has to have the qualities of being kind, fair, confident, being helpful and using the various learning powers. You need to help people make the right choices."

"A prefect has to be loyal and willing to help a teacher with their daily tasks. They have to respect other prefects and students. You need to be a role model and set a good example when you represent our school." 

Why do you want to be a prefect?

"I want to be a prefect because I want to help people to learn and help them to make the right choices. I also want to be an inspiration to younger children and be a good role model."

"I would like to be a prefect so I can help people who need help at lunch time solve an argument and when people need help when they are hurt you can help them."

Being a prefect requires you to show lots of leadership skills. What leadership skills do you have?

"I play fair and I don't hesitate to help others to make the right choices. I also love helping others to make the right decisions in their learning even outside of school."

"I am confident, polite and I am fair. I believe that is how to become a good leader. I will let people know what is right and wrong. I can show people the way and lead from the front."

Meet our Learning Council

Learning Council

The Learning council are a group of children from year 1 to year 6 who meet regularly to look at ways we can help improve the teaching and learning at our school.

Each year we look at:

• What makes a good teacher
• What makes a lesson engaging

This information is then used to support us in giving feedback to teachers each week through 'magnificent teacher' and 'magnificent lesson' slips. An award for each is then given out in praise assembly each week by members of the learning council.

We also explore:

• Considering resources we need in our classroom to help us develop into independent learners.
• We visit classrooms and look at the learning environment to see which displays help us to learn and how we use them during lesson. 
• We carry out pupil voice to consider views on home learning.

Meet our Reading Buddies

Reading Buddies

We work with pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 two or three times a week. We hear our buddies read and support them with the reading and comprehension skills. Sometimes we take it in turns to read so that our buddies can hear us too and enjoy story time. We love working with the younger pupils in our school and supporting them to develop a love of reading. We all receive Reading Buddy training to help us understand how to support our buddies with their phonics skills and encourage them to ask and answer questions. In the Summer term, we will use our skills to help train year 5 pupils in becoming Reading Buddies.

Meet our Digital Leaders

Digital Leaders

The Digital leaders have a high profile within school. We meet on a weekly basis during Code Club where we develop our coding skills using scratch and BBC microbits.

In the past few years we have supported the teaching of the computing curriculum and run our own Robot club.

We have carried out research into how the children at St Mary's use computers in their own time and offered guidance and advice to parents by sharing the analysis of the results in booklet form, delivering the Safer Interned Day assembly and contributing to parent work shops.

Last year we developed the children's acceptable use agreement based on our research into how children use computers in school and at home - this agreement has been signed and agreed by all the children in school and has been stuck into their topic books as a constant reminder of how we should conduct ourselves on line and how we should respect the computing equipment.

Meet our Sports Leaders

Sports Leaders

We meet regularly to discuss and action sporting activities and events across the school. We feedback information to our class and conduct pupil voice surveys to help us ensure pupils are enjoying PE and sports at our school.  We collect the Daily Mile information and monitor and give out the WOW badges, for our new 'Walk Once a Week' to school scheme.

Meet our Friendship Council

Friendship Council

We work hard to ensure our school remains a happy place and everyone has someone to play with and speak to at break and lunch time. There are always two members of the Friendship Council on duty everyday at the Friendship Stop or Friendship Bench. We are trained to try and support pupils that fallout to make up through a restorative mentoring approach and know if we are unable to support pupils with this, to help them find an adult who can. We enjoy making sure everyone has a buddy at playtime and that no one ever feels left out.

Meet our Chaplains 

Chaplaincy 

Meet our RRS Steering group

UKS2 Rights ambassadors

RRS Steering group

The steering group is a group of young people and adults from across the school community who lead the schools’ Rights Respecting work. They are here to influence and drive forward change. This group has a leading role to play in our work as a rights respecting school and is therefore representative of the whole school community, including children from all key stages. Our steering group meets regularly and with clear agendas and action points so that the group can:

• To take the lead in developing and delivering the school’s Rights Respecting action plan.
• To ensure that the whole school is aware of the Rights Respecting Schools Award.
• To provide a link between children and young people, teachers, senior management team, governors and the whole school community.
• To regularly feedback to the school community about progress, including to the SMT, governors, staff and parents.
• To prepare for the assessment by collating evidence and being able to meet with the assessor(s).