School Council Minutes

SA (Amethyst)

KI (Quartz)

IA (Tanzanite)

ZI (Emerald)

RS (Ruby)

AK (Onyx)

Mrs Best attended for the first part of the meeting

·       Near the Den so that it can be used by all the KS1 children and the Den children

·       In or near the KS2 canteen so that it is easy to access for all the KS2 children. It will either be on the wall by Mrs Abell’s classroom or just by the door to the canteen

Children in KS2 are really happy about the new football nets. In Year 3 and 4, there is a rota so that one class has the football net pitch each day. Sometimes this doesn’t work, if a class comes out late or doesn’t want to play. Mrs Abell will talk to the Year 3 and 4 teachers about having a year group rota, so that one day it would be for Year 3 and the next for Year 4. It will be important that children understand that this doesn’t mean “first to the pitch gets it for themselves” and that anyone in that year group can play. A teacher will need to be near the pitch to check this is working OK.

Year 5 explained that at break time, the only time they get the nets pitch is when Year 6 are on a trip. Mrs Abell will talk to Mr Hope about a rota for Year 5 and 6.

Year 1 and 2 said that some children are making people angry in the playground and also playing “gangs” which means leaving people out. They also said that Mr Nunnington is dealing with this and has said that no-one should be playing the gangs game anymore. Year 3 said that this game sometimes happens in Year 3 as well. Year 4 children reported that some children were making new friendships, then playing with those friends and making their old friend jealous. All the children said that they could talk to their class teacher about this sort of problem.

However, School Council did think that we need to spend some Class Assembly time looking at friendships and playground games, to help people make good choices and keep other people happy. Mrs Abell will come up with some ideas based on what School Councillors have suggested and then we can have a special Friendship Focus Week in Class Assembly. This will be either the second or third week back, to give time for Mrs Abell to talk to the other teachers about the ideas and also Mrs Croud and Mrs Best.

Ruby now have sea monkeys in their classroom, which Mrs West has given them. Other classes would also like pets. Mrs Abell will find out about the sea monkeys in Ruby and whether other classes could do similar things while being fair to the animals.

Sienna class need a pen for their interactive whiteboard.

Children reported that tea party is now happening every week which they are really pleased about.

All children like the new attendance prizes and awards

·       They would like teachers to talk through each piece of homework and explain what to do in case they can’t work it out.

·       Children said that often they lose their line guides which makes it hard to complete homework. The children at the meeting would prefer to complete their homework on a sheet rather than in a homework book because of this.

·       Children said that it can be hard to find a pencil at home.

·       Children would like there to be a lunchtime when they can get help with their homework

·       KS1 children would like less writing for their homework, because their hands hurt.

·       Children felt that there is often too much homework and it takes a long time. They also felt that the homework is the same sort of thing every week (grammar, writing, maths) which gets very boring. They suggested having one or two weeks (or half the time) with the usual sort of homework (grammar or writing and maths) and then having two weeks (or the other half of the time) with mini projects, fun research, talking to grownups about what they’ve been learning etc

·       Children are happy to learn spellings and all the children said these were being tested in class.

·       Some children would like extra challenges or longer writing projects for fun

·       All children would like projects for the holidays.