NORTHWOOD PUPIL CONSULTATION
Simonswood Pupil Council meeting
16 April 2008
Present:
Sam Livesey, Learning Mentor, Simonswood School
Members of Simonswood Pupil Council:
Chloe Mc (chair) representing year 6 and years 1 and 2
Kieran representing year 6 and years 1 and 2
Lewis H representing year 4
Toni representing year 4
Chloe K representing year 5
Robert representing year 3
Maggie representing year 6 and years 1 and 2
Jamie representing year 3
Lewis I representing year 6 and years 1 and 2
Julie Young Children’s Services Manager, DCS
Jill Gore Special Educational Needs Officer
Lynne Bennett School Organisation Officer
Apologies: Victoria Wright, Northwood Project Manager
Introductions
Julie thanked the members of the Pupil Council for taking the time to meet with the officers from the Council, Chloe introduced herself as chair and everyone introduced themselves.
Background
The Pupil Council undertook a playground survey to find out what the children in Simonswood School thought about the proposal to close Simonswood, Overdale and Northern Primary Support Centre and for all pupils to transfer to a new school to be built on Roughwood Drive. During the survey a range of questions were put forward for discussion.
Chloe asked:
Does the map show the space for the school?
Julie explained that the proposed site for the new school building will be next to the secondary learning centre on Roughwood Drive. Julie asked Chloe if she thought it was a suitable site and Chloe thought that it was as the site is not too far from all of the schools.
Julie asked how the children travel to school now. Two members of the Pupil Council travel to school by bike, five members of the Council walk to school and two members travel to school by car.
Lewis I asked:
Will our school be attached to the new learning centre?
Julie explained that the new school won’t be attached to the new learning centre but children in the new school will be able to use some of the facilities in the new learning centre. Julie asked the members if they thought the new school should be attached to the new learning centre but the Pupil Council thought it would be best to have a separate building.
Kieran…
explained that he went to a design festival in year 4 and he asked if the work he did at the design festival will be used to plan the new school.
Julie asked Kieran what he did at the design festival and Kieran stated that he designed a classroom, a reception area and a staffroom. He designed the classroom with 4 tables for 4 groups, with the teacher’s desk placed in the corner so the teacher could see everything, and a projector for work. Kieran said he designed it as a large room with a play area.
Lynne explained that there will be another design festival in June for everyone – staff, parents and children – and everyone can put forward their ideas for the design of the new school.
Toni…
advised the group that Simonswood Pupil Council has already met with the other two schools and she asked if they will meet up again.
Julie explained that it is a very important part of the process for the schools to work together before they come together in the new school. Julie stated that there might be a chance to do activities before or after school, and that the teachers and governors from all three schools will want the children to work together so they can think about what they want to see in the new school.
Jill informed the Pupil Council that they should think about what type of work they would like to do with the other schools.
Lewis H asked
Who can we pass on our ideas to about school uniform and badges?
Julie explained the there will be a temporary governing body for the new school and they will ask for ideas about a new uniform and a new badge, as well as a new school name. Julie asked what Lewis had designed, and Lewis explained that his design is a crown with a circle and three stars representing the three schools.
Kieran said he has also designed a new badge, with a crown and a plus sign with the initial of each school in a section of the plus sign and one star in the other section.
Julie suggested that one of the designs could be a logo to use now as the schools start working together before moving into the new school.
Robert asked
Will we be with our friends in the new classes and how many pupils will be in each class?
Julie said there will be two classes in each year group, so two classes in year 3, two in year 4 and so on, with 30 pupils in each class. Julie asked if that seems OK and Robert agreed that it was. Julie also said that it won’t be pupils from Overdale in one class and pupils from Simonswood in another class, but both together in one class, and this means that everyone will be able to make new friends.
Harry asked
How many headteachers will there be?
Julie explained that there will be one headteacher in the new school and that the Pupil Council may be involved in the appointment of the new headteacher.
Mrs Livesey explained that year 6 Pupil Council members have already been involved with staff appointments.
Julie asked if the questions they asked during the appointment of the new members of staff got good answers and the response was that they did.
Maggie asked
What will happen to our old site and can we move the Jamie Bulger garden?
Lynne explained that Simonswood school site is owned by the Catholic Archdiocese, so they will decide what happens to the site.
Julie said it would be very important to identify a site in the new school where the Jamie Bulger garden could be moved to and she informed the Pupil Council that they should let the Chair of Governors know that they want to take the garden with them. The Chair of Governors can pass on the information to the designers of the new school.
Kieran asked
Will there be a computer room?
Julie explained that in some new schools the computers have been put in the classrooms, rather than in a separate computer room, and some schools have computers on trolleys that can be moved from room to room. Julie said there will be lots of technology including computers but it might not be laid out the same way as it is in Simonswood now.
Jamie Leigh asked
Will we be able to visit the new site and building before it opens?
Julie said she thought that would be very important and that it is something they could do together with the other schools – for example year 3 from Overdale and Year 3 from Simonswood might be able to visit together, but it won’t be easy to do that because of health and safety problems. Lewis H said that this was because of the building work going on at the site and because of all the machinery there will be on the site.
Lewis H asked
Will we still have assembly?
Julie said assembly is a very important part of the day, and she asked if the school has celebratory assembly. Lewis said they have talent spots on Mondays and Fridays, when pupils can do a dance, and that every Friday they have merit points and whoever has the most points that week wins a prize.
Kieran asked
Can the new school be built on a different part of the site?
Julie explained that we have to use the northern part of the site for the new school, as we also have to build the new secondary learning centre on the site. Kieran said he thought the field should be used.
Julie explained that all of the facilities in the new secondary learning centre will be available for the community, so people will be able to use them before and after school and at weekends. Kieran agreed that it was important for people to be able to use the new facilities.
Toni asked
What will happen to our work and the pictures on the walls?
Julie advised the Pupil Council that they might be able to take some pictures home, or maybe they could be used as an exhibition in the library, or some could be taken to the new school.
Toni thought it would be a good idea to take some home and some to the new school.
Lewis asked
Will we still have a smart board?
Julie said that there will be a smart board. Lewis asked if there would be one for assembly, for when they do some work when they need to use a projector. Julie explained about screens that pull down from the ceiling so they don’t take up any wall space.
Jill explained to the Pupil Council that pupils from Northern Primary Support Centre will have their own separate classes but they may be able to join in with some classes such as art or PE and the Pupil Council thought that was a good idea.
Mrs Livesey explained that the pupils from Northern Primary Support Centre came to the special assembly when “Eaton Road” came, and that there will be another meeting with the Pupil Council from Northern Primary Support Centre in June.