Pupil Parliament

Welcome to the St Anne's Pupil Parliament webpage

Our Pupil Parliament is a group of children from Years3, 4, 5 and 6. They work with the teacher Minister to help improve our school and the experiences for all pupils at St Anne’s. It is an important way for the teachers to hear the views of pupils at St Anne's and for children to have their say in matters that effect them.

Pupils in the Parliament at St Anne's need to be:

• Responsible and reliable
• Friendly and approachable
• Good at listening to everyone
• Confident at talking in front of others
• Sensible and hardworking
• Fair and honest
• Role Models

Children who would like to put themselves forward for one of the Ministerial roles, are encouraged to speak to parents, friends and teachers. Then, they are asked to create a short speech that tells their classmates what they will bring to the role, why they should be considered and why pupils should vote for them. Children then deliver this speech to their peers and the class will then vote for the pupils they feel would be best suited to represent them.

What are we up to? 

Pupil Parliament News

January 2024

We held many meetings in the Autumn Term and have already come up with some new ideas to introduce across the school. From January 2024 all KS2 classes will visit the library once a month, to select a book.  Lunchtime clubs will start from the 15th January (on a daily rota).  We want to complete a whole school art project, so we are going to work with Mrs Baker during the Spring Term to devise the project.  If you have any ideas or suggestions to improve your experience of daily school life, then please talk to a member of Pupil Parliament.

September 2023

Welcome back!

Many children in Year 6 are already asking about the opportunity to join the Pupil Parliament. Details will be sent out soon to parents via ParentMail about how you can apply and what you have to do. Mr Caddick and Miss Keedwell will then give you the opportunity to present to the class and vote for the children you think will be the best to represent your class.

Good luck everyone! I can't wait to start working with you.

Mrs Turley

July 2023

Our annual Used Shoes collection for St Chad's Sanctuary took place on the last day of term. The children in school in school are encouraged  to wear their trainers and donate any shoes they have grown out of or are not going to be used in September so they can be given to those children who need them. The Pupil Parliament  representatives from Year 5 collected the shoes around the school, paired them and left lots of black sacks filled with shoes with Mrs Turley to take to St Chad's Sanctuary for those in need. Many thanks to the parents for helping with this initiative.

June & July 2023

Following a suggestion in a class suggestion box, the children decided that they would like to do a fund raiser to raise funds to purchase new bins on the field to help keep our field tidy of rubbish from snacks at break times. Children try to put rubbish in their pockets, but often it falls out when the children are playing.

After discussions and research, the children decided the bins had to be squirrel proof and therefore have lids. The children thought about effective ways of fundraising in school and a unanimous decision was made to sell ice pops for 50p each and plans were made. Mrs Turley went shopping for ice pops and made sure they were ready in the freezers. An ice pop sale was then set up over four Thursday's in June and July. Every member was designated a class who collected and counted the money, gave out the ice pops to the class and cleaned up after themselves. We raised over £300. Thank you everyone for supporting this initiative.

New bins have been purchased and are in use on the field. As we raised more than expected, we also bought new bins for the infant and junior playgrounds to replace the old teddy bear bins that the squirrels love to raid and leave rubbish all over the playgrounds. 

April & May 2023

The Pupil Parliament have been working with Mrs Johnston and Shire Catering to help introduce the new lunchtime food provider. They have spoken to staff and children about what they would like, talked with Shire Catering about their vision for lunches at St Anne's and even attended the taste sessions. Pupils are excited for the new lunches in September. After a few weeks, the new Pupil Parliament will audit lunches to see if they live up to the quality continues and promises of healthy lunches continues. 

February & March 2023 

We have met with Dolce to share our thoughts and findings following on from our audit. Mrs Johnston and the Dolce Managers were very impressed with how confidently and articulately we spoke about our thoughts and findings. From ‘Soup of the Day’ option to improved range in the salad bar, let’s hope our thoughts and ideas are listened to and acted upon to improve the experiences for all.

We attended a Governors meeting to talk to the Governors about the Curriculum and our learning at St Anne’s. From English and Maths to History and Geography, we shared our experiences, likes and dislikes. We talked about what we think works well and the things we think could be improved. The Governors were very impressed with our honesty in talking to them about life at St Anne’s. 
 

During Lent, we are spending time collecting and sorting the donations for St Chad’s. Keep an eye on Twitter for pictures. 
 

Mrs Turley has spoken with Mr Berekis about helping provide stepping stones for Key Stage 2 playground. As the sheds have been moved due to the new Year 6 building, they are now only accessible by walking on mud. We felt that this was not good for the class carpets and our shoes. Keep your eyes peeled! 

January & February 2023

Suggestion boxes have been checked weekly.

The weekly outside resource tidy has been taking place and balls have been pumped up.

We have had dates set for a meeting with the Governors and with Dolce - the lunchtime food providers. Therefore, we have spent time preparing ourselves. 
 

We have spent time with Mrs Turley talking about the Curriculum, our learning, resources and our classes to help prepare ourselves for our meeting with the Governors. Mrs Turley has asked questions, we looked through our books and we discussed what we think about our experiences at St Anne’s. We have also audited and evaluated the lunchtime procedures and food provided. We talked about the quality, quantity and range of foods available. We have also created some suggestions we feel would improve lunchtimes.

December 2022 & January 2023

Suggestion boxes have been checked every week and the Pupil Parliament have been discussing whether the suggestions are viable or feasible or not. They are getting good at discussions and offering their opinions. Mrs Turley has reported a few ideas to Mrs Johnston who has spoken with the Parliament and is arranging a date for Pupil Parliament to talk with Dolce regarding some suggestions they have about school dinners. Mrs Johnston is also bringing a suggestion to the Governors. 

The children have reported back about their ideas following their playground audit. They observed very good behaviour from most children and everyone was playing together well. There were also lots of games going on and they felt the Year 5 Play Leaders were doing a great job with the younger children. They suggested they might like to go back to having all Key Stage Two children on the playground at the same time (pre-covid). Once it was discussed, they thought it was a bad idea. They really like the extra space - one positive change from COVID! There is a problem of balls often being flat, so the Pupil Parliament have decided that at the start of their meetings, some members will check suggestion boxes, while others will pump up the balls. They are also going to ensure that the Year 6 playground monitors keep the storage cupboard tidy. Following the work on the new classroom and the repositioning on the shed, the children felt that a path or stepping stones would be good. We are going to look for a parent who might be able to help. We are also looking at a few further ideas how to improve our playground and equipment. We might need to carry out some fundraising as the children would like some new signs for the Buddy Benches in both playgrounds. 

December 2022

Many of the Pupil Parliament were involved in welcoming parents at our Parent Meetings and offered support in completing the Parent satisfaction surveys. They were also on hand to support the PTA in setting up the Christmas Fayre. The Parliament were also busy supporting the school’s Advent project to support St Chad’s by collecting the donations and packing them up for our Chair of Governors to deliver. 

November 2022

The Pupil Parliament are currently carrying out an audit of playtimes. They are looking at interactions, friendships, activities and resources. 

October / November 2022

The Pupil Parliament have been meeting up with Mrs Turley just before lunchtimes. Our Pupil Parliament display has been updated to include members of parliament from each class. Suggestion boxes have been made and distributed to classes from Year 2 - Year 6. Another has been placed in the hall.

Our first challenge is to audit play times on the infant and junior playgrounds. Members of parliament are working together in pairs to observe what happens and are ready to report back to Mrs Turley.

October 2022

The speeches have taken place in school and children have voted for people who they think have the best attributes to be a member of the Pupil Parliament. 

September 2022

Mrs Turley led a Key Stage Two assembly about British Values and how our Pupil Parliament works at St Anne's. The children who would like to become part of the Parliament are currently creating speeches to share with their class to say what they would bring to the role.

June & July 2022

The Pupil Parliament met with an external advisor to talk about our school. They mentioned all the good things that happen at St Anne's and what they thought could be improved. He was very proud of how confidently and articulately they spoke to him.

The Pupil Parliament were also involved in talking with the subject leaders to help them gain a valuable insight into teaching and learning at St Anne's. Children brought their exercise books to the hall. Subject leaders felt fully informed about children's thoughts and learning that had taken place this year.

May 2022

Mr Caddick’s board games club will be resuming next term. 

May 2022

There was a suggestion for a debating club, but we felt by the majority of members that this was not needed as we do lots of debating through our curriculum.

There was a suggestion that the children missed being with other classes on the playground and would like to go back to having all of KS2 together. However, at the end of the discussion, the children agreed they liked the extra space it gave them to play when having just two classes on the KS2 playground - there were far less arguments, fallings out and accidents! It was finally agreed to keep these arrangements as they are.

We are currently consulting with the children and staff their views about homework at St Anne's. This will be discussed at our next meeting.

We are also thinking about if the children would like a board games club (we miss Mr Caddick's club), how we could organise it and who would run it. 

May 2022

Following on from a suggestion by a member of Parliament, we have been researching the ideas of 'Mindful Monday's' & 'Well-Being Wednesday's'. It was also agreed that teachers should take part in these sessions to help with their mindfulness and well-being too. Ideas have been gathered, Mrs Turley has fed back to the SLT and it will be rolled out in June 2022.

Actions:

Ideas and activities gathered for Mindful Monday's and Well-Being Wednesday's, although this is just the start:

• Meditations
• Calming music
• Emotive picture slideshows
• Mindfulness colourings
• Colour by numbers
• Querkles 
• Doodling & Zentangles
• Journaling
• 12 Days of Positivity & Positive affirmations
• Yoga 
• Breathing activities
• Brain Break Activities
• A walk on the field
• Gardening
• Laying watching the clouds and trees..............

Impact:

TBA

May 2022

We have been looking at how we can improve the atmosphere in the dining room at lunchtime. In consultation with Mrs Turley, Mrs Johnston, The school cooks & dinner staff, a few changes have been made.

Impact:

We like the food from the cooks. The food is generally tasty, healthy and it was felt we are served enough - although Y5 & Y6 like the leftovers! We like the changes made in COVID where there were less children in the dining room. This change is now going to be made permanent. The older children now serve up their own ketchup. It was felt they had to wait too long when served by the dinner supervisors and their dinner was nearly finished before they got it. Y6 trialled the process and it is going to be brought out to Y5 too. We missed the salad bar! This helps keep us healthy and full - it has returned following it's COVID break. Class reward points are now given by dinner supervisors for class good behaviour choices. This has helped make the dining room a quieter, calmer and nicer place to be. Stickers are also given out to individuals who show particular good behaviour choices, healthy eating or random acts of kindness. Mrs Johnston has seen this positive change for herself during her recent times in the dining room at lunchtime. We are going to look to see if there is a possibility of music being played in the dining room at lunchtimes.

April 2022

We have worked closely with Mrs Johnston and Mrs Turley to review the school's current marking policy. Children liked teacher's marking and felt it helped them improve. However, there were some things they didn't like, need or understand. In consultation with the SLT, the marking policy has now been updated reflecting our views.

Impact:

Teachers now mark in any colour as we felt it had a negative impact when they write in red. It was also felt that this would happen if teachers stuck to the same colour, so we decided that we would like lots of colours to stop this negative "dreaded marking" feeling. The older children also thought they would like more stickers, stampers and smiley faces as rewards for achieving well (just as the younger children do) and needed more time to respond appropriately to marking. It was felt that teachers do not need to write as much - the marking key will help. The marking key was reduced and simplified to help everyone understand what marking meant and ensure marking was consistent across the board. The updated marking policy has now been stuck in the front of our exercise books for us to refer to.

March 2022

We currently have two projects:

• Evaluating the effectiveness of the school’s marking policy
• Monitoring and evaluating the routines and atmosphere in the dining hall and the playgrounds for both KS1 & KS2 and consider how we could improve lunchtimes for the children