Minutes Taken by Gemma Tooze, Deputy Head Girl

School Council minutes from 05/07/2017

Minutes taken by Gemma Tooze, Deputy Head Girl

Apologies/ absences- Ella Sahonte, Claudia Howells and Daniel Taylor

NB: The main aim of this meeting was to introduce the new Head Boy, Head Girl and Deputies to their new roles within the school. The meeting also introduced any ideas regarding the new school year which is to commence in early September 2017. The school is also very pleased to welcome the new Head Boy, Head Girl and Deputies. The new Head Boy is Daniel Marshall with the new Head Girl being Henrietta Glanville. They look forward to working with Deputy Head Boys Angus James, Daniel Taylor and Patrick Shepard as well as Deputy Head Girls Gemma Tooze, Claudia Howells and Ella Sahonte. In addition to this the school is very pleased to welcome 35 Prefects and Senior Prefects.

The School Council along with the Physical Education dept. aim to schedule a Key Stage 3 cross country charity run for September/ October as well as a Cancer Research run for 28th July. Representing the Physical Education dept. was deputy leader Miss McAndrew. It was agreed that the school should push for the run to become an annual event and part of the run should commence during Physical Education lessons. It is also being discussed that sponsorship forms should be distributed across the school.

It was agreed that on 07/07/17 during 5th period there should be a Jack Griffiths memorial presentation for the students of Year 10. It was also discussed the proposal for a memorial garden outside the caretaker’s house in memory of Jack.

A cake sale to support the victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster has also been decided. This will be led by Nishenka during both Key Stage 3 and 4/5 lunches. The date for this is yet to be confirmed.

Update on preparation for cake sale for the Children’s Hospice Charity led by Jaz Cuggy, Year 10 Miss teen GB. This is set to commence on 14th July.

Advancement on the student voice in regards to the Suggestion Box led by Max Hall. It was suggested by the students that the school introduce a more healthy school menu with possibly more vegetarian options.

The school also received great feedback regarding the Transition Days that commence on 28th and 30th June to introduce new Year 6 pupils to the school. It was reported that the Transition Days were very successful with many new 6s looking forward to joining the school in September.

There has also been an active front in regards to the Sixth Form and the Careers and University Open Day event scheduled for the 14th July. The aim of this event is to give students an insight into the many options available to them after Sixth Form. The school is looking forward to welcoming representatives from many sectors including finance, law and medicine. However, the school is still waiting for Year 12 students to finish filling in their options in regards to which sectors they are interested in.

It was also noted that the school’s tie bank is very healthy with many ties being donated by pupils who are leaving this year. It was also noted that the school has a healthy supply of spare school uniforms for students as a result of lost property.

The school is very pleased to report that along with Head Boy Daniel Marshall the Youth Parliament for Wales has announced it is going to start to work more closely with schools to get young people interested in politics. This is an idea that Cowbridge Comprehensive School is very keen to support.

In addition to this, the School Council is now part of the student ambassador scheme led by Sally Holden. It has been suggested that the school chooses 2 members of the school council to become ambassadors that will be elected by the whole school. It has also been suggested that the school chooses 2 ambassadors from the middle of the school between the Years 8 and 10. This to ensure the student voice is heard and ideas are put forward. These 2 students will have to be confident when speaking in public and organised. School Council members Nshenkia and possibly Seren have offered to put themselves forward for this amazing opportunity.

The staff charities for the new school year were all discussed. It was decided that every year the staff will support a charity with a different one each year. Currently the staff are supporting charities working in both Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.

The school has also decided to create Prefect roles for both Years 10 and 11. In late July the Head Boy, Head Girl and deputies will visit Year 9 and 10 assemblies to inform them of this amazing opportunity. This will also be of great benefit to those wanting to apply for prefect, senior prefect, head or deputy in Sixth Form. This will be part of the school Proactive School Community project.

In addition to this, the Prefect Emma Macey is planning to transform the library to make it more accessible. It is yet to be decided how this will happen.

It has been agreed by the School Governors that school skirts must be no shorter than 5cm above the knee. This will be enforced as of the new academic year set to commence in early September 2017. The aim of this is to remove the pressure of having to wear fashionable skirts to school thus creating a more positive learning environment for both boys and girls.

Head Girl Henrietta Glanville is leading the Mayors Christmas Card competition which gives students from Year 7 to Year 9 and Years 10 to 12 the opportunity to design a Christmas card for the Mayor of the Vale of Glamorgan. This will be announced to all year groups in the first week of September as the deadline is 9th October 2017.

The school is also planning an LGBT awareness day. It was suggested by a Governor that the school invite ex Welsh Rugby and Lions player Gareth Thomas in to speak about LGBT awareness.

This year was the first year that Year 12 were allowed to vote in their Head Boy and Head Girl. This was an idea proposed by the previous Head Boy, Luke Johanson-Brown and has been very successful. This now allows the student voice to be heard. It was also suggested that the school reintroduce Campaign Week/Day which will give students the opportunity to fellow students why they should become the next Head Boy or Head Girl. This has been successful in previous years but was abolished when the school moved onto its new site in September 2010.

Any Other Business (AOB)

It has been suggested that the school introduce a Battle of the Bands to encourage musicality between the lower year groups (Key Stage 3 and 4). This will be led by Deputy Head Boy Patrick Shepard who also plans to reintroduce the school Eisteddfod along with the Cymraeg (Welsh) department.

The school is very proud to boost the 37 Prefects and Senior Prefects that will be supporting the Head Boy, Head Girl and Deputies in their duties. However due to their being so many Prefects and Senior Prefects, there is the problem of booking rooms that are big enough for everyone to fit in. It has therefore been decided that meetings will be carried out in the main hall.

The School Council is very keen on communicating more through the school website, the Gem newspaper, and Twitter. This will be led by the Head Boy and Head Girl and Senior Prefect Penelope Weir as a way of reaching out to the wider community outside of the school. In addition this will promote the school’s good work in regards to any articles, school work, events etc. This will be closely organised along with the English dept.

The success of the recent Medics meeting was also discussed. This was led by Deputy Head Boy Angus James with the aim to encourage Sixth Formers to look into careers in medicine. It has also been discussed that the school introduces First Aid lessons for all students with the help of St John’s Ambulance Service as well as Re-start a heart day and Mindfulness and Mental Health Awareness. It was also suggested that these life lessons were run in conjunction with the Biology dept., Physical Education dept. Welsh Baccalaureate and PSE as well as with Mr Farrell and Claire McRobbie.

The school also hopes to organise a session where the Head Boy, Head Girl and Deputies will be photographed for the school website. It is yet to be finalised when this will take place exactly but the school hopes this can be done during Democracy Week in September.

It is believed that the school is lacking a whole school sports day. In the old school sports day used to commence at Jenner Park Stadium in Barry, however this is no longer feasible. It has therefore been suggested that the school holds a whole school sports day on the school grounds. The school boosts a 3G all weather pitch, 2 multi-game pitches, an outdoor cricket pitch, a football field, a sports hall with cricket nets, and 2 rugby fields. The school hopes this will encourage well-being and improve mental health.