Student Voice & Leadership

Our vision is for all students to be able to contribute towards the continuous improvement of the Academy community. We believe that it is important to allow our young people to have a real say in issues that affect them and to know that their opinions count. One way of doing this is for pupils to join The Hazeley Academy's Student Council which meets in their House groups and is a formal group of pupils who represent their Tutor Groups.

Why do we have a Student Council?

There are lots of reasons that also include improving many aspects of Academy life and giving leadership and development opportunities for our pupils.

Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) says that children and young people should have a say in decisions that affect their lives.  A school council can provide a meaningful way in which pupils can voice their opinions and have their views considered in decisions which impact upon them.

Within our Academy curriculum, one of the key areas making up the ‘Learning for Life and Work’ theme is active participation.  The curriculum requires that young people are provided with opportunities to participate in our Academy and society. Our Student Council is an excellent way in which to increase participation, teaching young people about democracy, local and global citizenship, and accountability.

Student Council Role

We believe that our young people have unique perspectives on learning, teaching and Academy life, and we encourage pupils to think about how to use their understanding of human rights and responsibilities in practical ways to improve the Academy experience. The council gives them direct experience of debating and negotiating issues and seeing the 'bigger picture' of how the whole Academy is run.

The role of the council representatives is to:

• Listen to and feedback views from their Tutor Groups.
• Represent the ideas and views of their peers during Student Council meetings.
• Feedback key issues from these meetings to their Tutor Groups.
• Fundraising for the House charities including promoting non-uniform days.

Meetings

Student Council meetings take place weekly in Houses in the library during Tutor Time. Other activities include meeting with our partner schools.