School Council


HOW DRUMBEAT SCHOOL COUNCILS ENHANCE LEARNING FOR PUPILS

  • There are School Councils at Drumbeat Downham and Drumbeat Brockley.
  • Secondary School Council representatives (reps) are elected by their class. 
  • School Councils meet every 2 weeks
  • Meetings are conducted according to the pupils attending. 
  • Pupils are encouraged to follow up on meetings by feeding back to classes and taking on responsibility for action agreed at meetings.
  • Students see an important function of the School Council as an agent of change within the school. Currently the AHT feeds back to SLT and Governors. We are looking at pupils themselves feeding back as the obvious next step to the democratic process.
  • Skills used:

    • Listening (contextual attention, listening focus, points raised, others opinions)
    • Speaking (contextual discussion and convention, operating effectively in a formal situation – meeting, articulating others views,)
    • Reading (minutes, class notes, meeting headlines and text)
    • Writing (minutes – skill related to listening & recording salient points, feedback, actions)
    • Collective problem solving, collegiate responses
    • Theory of mind (pupils have to put themselves metaphorically in the place others to hypothesise about their experience and need, pupils have to try to predict what others are thinking)
    • Executive Function (plan, meaningfully include past knowledge in discussion, evaluate and reflect, ask for help, engage in group dynamics, wait to speak until called on, keep track of time)
    • Central Coherence (greater ability to see the whole picture, get the point or gist)

  • Successes of the Council:

    • Hosted a meeting with governors including question & answer session
    • Identified difficulties with school library and instigated a complete programme of change
    • Organised polls for Lewisham Young Mayor elections
    • Conducted a visit to the Mayor of Lewisham
    • Determined end of term activities and level of pupil input into these
    • Conducted a survey of pupils in the school’s first year
    • Discussed and made recommendations for school safety and management of behaviour, rewards and sanctions, curriculum, ICT and use of play/break time.