“Pupils told me about the changes that they suggested and, where appropriate, the school has made them. They also told me about the ‘Rescue Crew’, where elected pupils help each other out, for example when they are upset, angry or want a playmate. Pupils told me . . . that they really appreciate the opportunity to take on such responsibilities, beaming with pride when wearing their responsibility sash and helping others.” – OFSTED, 2016.
We are the Ellen Tinkham School Council and we are very proud of our School.
We get together in groups at the School site and at the College to discuss all things that work well for us and also things that don’t. Amy Ley [Advocate] writes down all our thoughts and ideas and these are sent to the Senior Leadership Team to talk about.
Good Stuff We’ve Done
Our work has included helping design the playground at the school, providing ideas for the building of the hydropool and also making meal times better, and taking part in SENtient Trust meetings with other students from special schools from around Devon.
What next?
This Summer, we will be talking about and working on making the outdoor spaces at the School and the College better. We’ve already thought about play equipment and how to make the ground less muddy. But we know this is a BIG project and will take time. But everyone will need to get involved with it to get it right.
We also want to look again at the lunch menus and see what food is on offer. It is important we eat healthy food but it is also important to keep having a choice on what we have. We want to check the amount of food fills everyone up and that it is cooked nicely. All the food should taste delicious.
Our current questions
- How are decisions made in the school?
- Who makes them?
- Who decides about outdoor learning and which of us can go? Who decides who can go on school trips which include sleep overs? Could we ask Will [Outdoor Educ Teacher] to come to our meeting to tell us about this?
- We also look at the Federation Development Plan with Amy and read through the ideas and support which staff will be giving to us. Across the year, we can see whether this is happening and can tell Amy what we think about it.
- All of us love taking part in the Student Council meetings and we think it is important we carry on meeting and talking about things in the School and the College that make a difference to us when we are here.
About the Student Council:
Champions for Change – “Listen, Hear, Understand”:
Our Student Council play an active role in the Devon Champions for Change group, where we meet with other students from across Devon to ensure all students are listened, heard and understood.