Personal Development

Pupil Leadership Opportunities

We believe it is important to develop leadership skills alongside teaching our children to become good citizens within our school community, as well as the wider community.

When we think about leaders and their qualities, it is clear to see that these are the core values we want to develop in our pupils. There are many ways that leadership is grown and developed in our pupils.

There are a range of Leadership Opportunities available for children to participate in. These include:

• School Council
• No Outsiders
• Reading Champions
• Lunch Time Leaders
• Playground and Sports buddies
• Music Champions
• Computer Leads

Some of these roles are elected by peers and some of these roles are through applying for the role.

For elected roles, children are asked to produce a speech and poster. This is presented to the class and the class have a secret ballot to elect their preferred candidate.

When children apply for a role, they are required to complete an application either by completing a form or by writing a letter of application. They are then interviewed and selected upon merit.

School Council

At Chesterton Primary School, we have 14 school representatives across the school (2 per year group). Miss Storey meets with the school council at least once a half term.

What does our school council do?

The school council work together make improvements to the school. We look around for things that could be better and consult our classes with what we do. Everyone gets a chance to speak and when we've finished we vote on the best ideas and then start working on changing things.

Who are the School Councillors?

Every year we vote for two new representatives for each class. A good representative will speak at the council meetings about things that their class is interested in. They will also tell their class about what is going on in the council meetings and add to the meetings in our school council book.

This year, we have:

• changed the school values and consulted all children and staff on their views;
• conducted a pupil voice survey to find out pupil views on behaviour and safety at Chesterton and discussed the next actions;
• shared our views on play/lunch time games and lining up procedures.

We are currently working on:

• identifying the #activelearners role in the school;
• deciding on subject ambassadors;
• improving break/lunch times.

Promoting British Values

In accordance with The Department for Education, we aim to actively promote British values in our school to ensure young people leave us prepared for life in modern Britain. Pupils are encouraged to regard people of all faiths, races and cultures with respect and tolerance and understand that while different people may hold different views about what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, all people living in England are subject to its law.

The Key British Values are as follows:

• Democracy
• Rule of law
• Individual liberty
• Mutual respect
• Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

Democracy

At Chesterton Primary School, children have the opportunity to have their voices heard through discussion within their classes and the school council. Each class vote for their representative and have the opportunity to discuss their thoughts and feelings with their representative, as well as get feedback on how issues are solved.

The Rule of Law

The importance of ‘Laws’, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout the curriculum and the school's behaviour policy. Children agree their own class rules at the start of each year in order to decide on what makes a positive and healthy learning environment. We have visits from members of society who deal with the law and visits from authorities help to reinforce this message.

Individual Liberty

Children are actively encouraged to make choices at school and, as a school, we provide opportunities to make these in a safe and supportive environment. We also aim to create an environment where children feel able to become resilient learners who are not afraid of a challenge. Children are nurtured to help them gain confidence and independence, knowing their rights and responsibilities within the school and how to exercise them appropriately. We teach these through our ICT, Online Safety and PSHE lessons. It is important for children to make their own informed choices and this is demonstrated on a daily basis, whether it be, through choice of lesson challenge, choice of meal at lunch or choice of participation in our numerous extra-curricular clubs.

Mutual Respect

Part of our schools ethos and behaviour policy revolves around core values, such as ‘respect’. Children participate in discussions and assemblies related to what respect means and how it is shown. Displays around the school promote respect for others and this is reiterated through our classroom rules and our daily conversations and expectations. Our school behaviour system recognises excellence and pupils are given leadership roles throughout the school through a variety of duties (both informed choice and expected), such as lunch leaders and school councillors.

Tolerance of those with Different Faiths and Beliefs

Children have the opportunity to learn about those who follow a different religion or culture through carefully planned RWV lessons and these values are also embedded into our school behaviour policy. As a school, we aim to give children an understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity through visits linked to our RWV curriculum.