Warwick Voice
Aims and Objectives
As a school we believe it is very important that our pupils are not only responsible members of the school community but also active participants. This is important for their happiness, sense of wellbeing and the development of their character. Pupil Voice provides a valuable opportunity for our pupils to engage with school life in a positive way, through having their feedback heard, leading their own initiatives and encouraging increased involvement in a wide variety of areas.
Our goals are as follows:
- To give pupils an opportunity to have their ideas and feedback heard, and their questions answered
- To encourage pupil participation – be part of the solution, not just complain about the problem
- To give leadership opportunities in a range of areas of school life
- To increase pupil participation in aspects of wider school organisation and their own areas of interest
- To enable greater collaboration between us, the other Foundation schools, and the local community
Warwick Voice is an invaluable community where every student’s voice
is heard and valued. It doesn’t just offer us opportunity to debate what matters to us. Pupils are empowered to drive positive change and shape our school experience.
- George, Head of Warwick Voice
The Pupil Voice Structure
Warwick Voice is led by a group of prefects who meet with Mrs Bradshaw (Head of Warwick Voice) on a
regular basis. Each prefect has an area of responsibility and leads a subcommittee consisting of pupils
from every year group. These are overseen by the Senior Prefect for Warwick Voice and the Senior
Prefect for Community & Charities as follows:
General Themes
The Eco Team serves a very important role within school in maintaining some of the initiatives that help us to retain our
‘Green Flag’. The team is responsible for encouraging staff, pupils and parents to think about their ecological footprint and take action. Throughout the year the team organise a variety of initiatives such as ‘ditch the car day’ and ‘switch off week’, plus other events such as the ‘no meat day’ referendum which pupils voted for.
The catering team work closely with the Head Chef and Director of Food Operations to report pupil feedback on menus and food quality. This involves surveying pupils for feedback and relaying the outcomes in our regular meetings. Members of the catering subcommittee are also responsible for developing new initiatives with the catering team such as the ‘Pupils Choice’ meal and themed dining events.
The aim of the Teaching and Learning team is to support the senior leadership team in gathering feedback from pupils on academic matters. This has led to pupils being involved in a variety of projects such as assisting in the creation of pupil surveys, designing One Note Training to help staff and pupils in the creation of ‘pupil friendly’ notebooks or being part of a pupil panel for the interview of new teachers.
This is a joint committee with King's High School that aims to build cohesion within the Sixth Form so that the shared space and experience can be enjoyed by all. The Sixth Form team aims to work with staff to develop and enhance the Sixth Form experience. Pupils are encouraged to contribute to the maintenance and look of the Sixth Form environment, lead and prepare assemblies on appropriate topics and assist in overseeing and organising the yearbook. They are also encouraged to organise social events and give feedback to the café staff on the food and drink offering, plus organise charitable initiatives and other projects.
Wellbeing Themes
This aim of this committee is to help to create a school environment where pupils of all ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds are treated with respect. The team run the ‘Show Racism the Red Card Week’ (in October) aimed at promoting racial inclusivity. They also promote awareness of different cultures and religions, through assembly talks on different religious festivals, and highlight the views of those in the school community who feel they aren’t being treated fairly based on their ethnic, cultural, or religious background.
The aim of this committee is to help to create a school environment where bullying incidents are minimised, where pupils know who to turn to and how to respond if they experience bullying, and where appropriate interventions are given to pupils who choose to use bullying behaviours. The group run Anti-Bullying Week (in November) and ‘Oddsocks’ day, aimed at empowering all pupils to deal with bullying.
The purpose of this committee is to help create a school environment where pupils of all sexualities and disabilities are treated with respect. The team run the school Diversity Week (in June), aimed at promoting awareness of diverse sexualities. They also aim to highlight the views of those in the school community who feel they aren’t being treated fairly based on their sexuality or their disability.
The aim of this committee is to help create a school environment where positive mental health is fostered, where pupils are aware of how to look after their mental health and know who to turn to and how to respond if their mental health declines. The group runs the Children’s Mental Health Week (in February), aimed at highlighting mental health issues and how to deal with them. They also aim to highlight the views of those in the school community who feel that there are ways that the school can be changed to better foster pupils’ positive mental health.
The aim of this committee is to consider how pupils from King’s High and Warwick School can better work together, and how incidents
of peer-on-peer abuse can be minimised. The group aims to highlight the views of those in the school community who feel they aren’t being treated fairly based on their sex. They also run the Gender Equality Week (in March), aimed at promoting attitudes of gender equality among pupils, developing understanding of consent, and empowering all members of the school community to be upstanders and address misogyny and sexism when they see it. Thius committee also celebrate International Mens’ Day (November) and International Womens’ Day (March).
The purpose of this committee is to help create an environment that meets the needs of all pupils. The group aim to represent, champion and provide a platform for the strengths of those who encounter accessibility challenges and also run Accessibility week (in April/May) aimed at promoting the importance of access for all.
The subcommittee groups meet at a minimum once per half term to discuss matters arising in their area of interest plus initiatives and projects that they wish to lead.
The aim of the charities committee is to organise whole school charity events and ensure these are communicated to the pupil and staff bodies effectively. In addition, some events are the work of collaboration with the other schools in the foundation. The pupils involved choose the charities, sometimes working in partnership with other areas of Pupil Voice such as the Eco Team fundraiser of Warwickshire Wildlife Trusts. Other past initiatives have involved the donation of food, equipment and toiletries to a variety of charities. Non-uniform days and donut sales are a staple earner too.
Just some of our achievements so far...
The Teaching & Learning Committee have aided in the recruitment of new staff through acting as a pupil interview panel and worked with the deputy head in discussions regarding internal assessments for centre assessed grades.
The Charities Committee have arranged the collection of food donations from every form at Christmas on behalf of the Warwick District Foodbank.
The Catering team have led large scale surveys regarding catering and met with the head chef on a regular basis to feedback the opinions of pupils about our current menus.
The Eco Team have helped to win the school a Green Flag Award and pioneered a referendum for a meat free day at school – this was a success and has been adopted by the catering department.
The possibilities for future projects are wide ranging and we want our pupils to be ambitious with their initiatives and ideas. Above all we hope that through the pupil voice system we can engender a sense of involvement, community and collaboration between staff and pupils.
