1. Pupil councils provide a basis
for active learning of key skills and experience of democracy activities.
2. Ofsted inspections will take note of initiatives, such as class and school
councils which show that a school is committed to citizenship education.
3. School and class councils enable all pupils to have a voice and helps them
to learn that their opinion counts.
4. Pupil involvement improves communication between pupils and teachers, senior
management and governors. This means the school can develop into a community
where pupils and teachers are working in partnership towards shared goals. It
also means that governors can gain a clearer picture of what is going on in
the school.
5. Providing structures for pupil involvement prevents quieter pupils from being
intimidated into apathy by loud negative peers. It promotes the development
of positive peer leadership and shifts the responsibility for good behaviour
away from teachers and towards members of the classroom and school community.
6. Research by Professor Lynn Davies at The University of Birmingham has shown
that pupil councils provide an effective means of promoting a sense of ownership
and therefore reducing exclusions in a school.
7. Involving pupils in peaceful conflict resolution, e.g. peer mediation provides
another means of shifting the responsibility for good behaviour towards the
classroom and school community.
8. Peer mediation enables pupils to support vulnerable classmates, so promoting
an inclusive and caring community where all pupils feel valued and safe.
9. Improving behaviour and developing positive relationships within the school
impacts positively on the learning environment.
10. Pupils have great potential to make a positive contribution to the school
and the wider community. School councils help pupils to fulfil this potential,
so promoting positive relations between the school and the wider community.