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Pupil Voice and Leadership

Pupil Voice is an essential element of what we do here at Cranford Park. We recognise that our children are the citizens of the future and that this is their school and so we try to involve them in any decisions which may affect them. For example, a pupil interview is part of every recruitment process, the children voted on which values they thought were important and shaped our vision. Children are ‘courageous advocates’ of causes dear to them and can present to the rest of the school in assemblies about issues which they feel strongly about.

In addition, we have several pupil councils which feed back ideas and thoughts to us about how we are doing as a school and suggest ideas on how we can do things better. They can also be involved in carrying out work to move the school forward in specific areas. These councils meet every two weeks and include:

  • A Learner Voice Council who talk to the headteacher about their experience in class, their learning, behaviour, wellbeing and other issues.
  • A Pupil Voice Council, comprised of a range of our vulnerable pupils, who speak to the SENCo about their experience of our school, whether the children are having their needs met and what more we can do to help.
  • A School Council who speak to the school business manager about a range of issues, from uniform to school meals, extra-curricular activities to the school environment.
  • An Eco-council who meet with the Forest School leader to advance the school's understanding and action in terms of sustainability. See our Sustainability Action Plan on our policies page.

In addition to these councils, over the course of a year, every child gets a chance to speak with the headteacher and each subject leader about our curriculum, feeding back ideas and helping us to understand what it is like to be a pupil in our school. This is facilitated through our half-termly monitoring sessions. Pupil feedback shapes our practice and helps us to make this a better school for all.

One of the wonderful things about our school is the family feel, particularly evident in the way that our older children care for and nurture our younger ones. Every YR child coming in to Cranford Park is linked with a 'buddy' from the Year 6 class. The buddies meet regularly for a variety of reasons, from paired reading and maths games to walking to church. 

We also recognise the importance of teamwork and leadership skills for our children’s future success, so are committed to developing these. Each year we appoint a head boy, head girl, deputy head boy and deputy head girl as well as team leaders for each of our four house teams. These leaders are voted for, by the whole school, in a democratic election process, following the presentation by all candidates of their speeches saying how they could carry out the role effectively.

In addition to the above, we have a team of JRSOs (Junior Road Safety Officers), librarians, play leaders and various other positions of responsibility. We also now have 'peer tutors' who support the progress of our younger children and currently have plans to train children as peer mentors. We are also devising a leadership skills ‘thread’ to run through our provision, identifying opportunities for our children to demonstrate Stephen Covey’s ‘7 habits of highly effective people’. Watch this space!