Pupil Voice
Pupil Voice
Pupil voice in schools means a whole-school commitment to listening to the views, wishes and experiences of all children and young people. It means placing value on what children and young people tell school staff about their experiences.
Children can offer unique perspectives on what it is like to be a pupil at our school; involving them in decision-making can create meaningful change and better academic outcomes, as well as facilitating a sense of empowerment and inclusion.
For Pupil voice to have an impact children need to be provided with meaningful opportunities to share their experiences, views and hopes about their school. Pupils need to know that it is safe and that it is important for them to express their views on what happens at school. They need to know that what they say is valued and will be listened to and considered.
Below are some of the ways in which the impact of Pupil Voice can be seen at Whitehall.
Earthquake Appeal
£933 raised for the Earthquake Appeal
The School Council representatives came together and decided that they would like to help Turkey and Syria by holding a non-school uniform event on Friday 24th February. They asked that children bring £1 or more to help support those in need.
We are all extremely grateful and would like to thank all those that took part for their generosity.
Right Respecting Gold Award
Pupil voice played an integrel role in Whitehall achieving the Rights Respecting Gold Award in November 2022.
Alongside, our Pupil Voice Lead (Ms. Darji) the children produced a video to explain to the wider community what it means to be a Rights Respecting School.
Click here to find out more about the Rights Respecting Agenda and to watch the children's video.
The Clothes Exchange
As part of the rights respecting agenda, the school council arranged a clothing. The exchange was developed to encourage our community to share resources to not only benefit families but the environment too.
In January, the school council asked for everybody in the school community to donate clean, wearable clothes that other families could make good use of. The aim was not to raise money but to try to help each other make good use of the resources we have.
Over two afternoons, children and families came to hall where they were able to help themselves to donated clothes for free. It was a real success; the community was extremely generous in their donations of clothing. We are hoping to run this again in the summer term.
The Solar Panel Project
The Eco-Council have been working with Solar for Schools to bring solar panels to Whitehall.
The children wrote to Solar for Schools enquiring about sourcing renewable energy sources for our school. We will keep you updated with the next steps!
Dear Sir or Madam,
Our school curriculum is underpinned by the Sustainable Development Goals and the Rights Respecting articles. We are writing to find out more about the Solar for Schools project. We are all children who are eco-councilors at Whitehall Primary School and we have come together to become a greener school and make the world a better place.
So far, we have been planting lots of trees and we’ve been collaborating with other eco-councils in Waltham Forest. We are boosting biodiversity in projects like our chicken coop and beehives. Two weeks ago, during COP27, we hosted the Big Climate Conversation summit. Eco-councils from different schools in Waltham Forest came together to speak and vote about environmental issues. We are also a rights respecting school and believe all children have the right to a clean future. We have recently been awarded the Gold award for being a Rights Respecting school.
We want to do even more to combat climate change and take part in more eco-friendly projects to achieve this. We would like solar panels to consume electricity in an eco-friendly way. Please can you tell us more about this solar panel project and the next steps.
Yours faithfully,
Whitehall Primary School Eco-Council