School Councils

The BBC reported recently that the Welsh Assembly has legislated to make school councils a compulsory part of school life- with councils making decisions on school wear, to the kind of food that they can eat at school time- does that mean that chips are back on the menu....bring back Jamie Oliver....quick!!! In secondary schools, a certain number of pupils will take part in discussions on the school governing board, but they won't be able to make decisions on disciplinary issues or on individual students.

I welcome the fact that school councils are being made compulsory as this is a good springboard for young people to exercise their rights, and feel ownership for decisions made as opposed to having teachers 'tell' them what to do on a daily basis. I hope that it will encourage young people to consider issues affecting them far more seriously, and that they will respect those decisions if they feel that they have had an clear input.

I was on the school council while I was in secondary school( this may surprise you!!!) and to be totally frank, we did little, if anything more than organise our 6th form prom at the end of the year- mostly due to the fact that we did not have influence over any other decisions in the school. I think that this announcement is therefore progressive, and will make young people feel as if they are part of something as opposed to being vilified and branded as 'yobs' time and time again.

Nevertheless, I firmly believe that schools must allow enough freedom for children to have an opinion on more than merely school uniform and food! I believe that children should have some degree of authority to develop ideas on youth issues across the board, which could then be communicated to the local community/ county council at the end of each term- opinions on ASBOS, local provision of community facilities for young people, the discussion on lowering the voting age- anything that they feel is important to them. The County/ Community Council could introduce a quota of ideas which they must at least consider implementing. This type of scheme would be a step in the right direction of encouraging young people to take part in their communities and make a positive difference.

The Assembly should safeguard that any decisions that are taken democratically by a school council with regards the school's policies are implemented accordingly, and that a School Charter should be developed to safeguard such decisions. I emphasise this as allegedly some headteachers choose to veto opinions and decisions made by school councils as they themselves do not agree with them. If we want to make the school councils an effective body, and not a token gesture, then the pupils' voices must be heard.

We might then nurture more young politicians who want to change the world....It certainly wouldn't be a bad thing, and I can guarantee they'd do a better job than the Labour lot we have at the moment who are ruling in Cardiff Bay.