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School Council
Meet St. Joseph's School Council
St Joseph’s School Council 2024-25
With God in our hearts we learn and grow together on our journey through life.
Each year voting takes place in every classroom, for the children to be elected to the School Council.
Y6 – Radin & Rosanna
Y5 – Aiden & Jada
Y4 – Alvin & Naiyana
Y3 – Michael & Daniella
Y2 – Oliver & Aarashie
School Council visit to The Houses of Parliament and 10 Downing Street March 2025
The School Council aims:
To have a voice which is listened to
To encourage pupil engagement in learning and the life of the School
To take responsibility for their environment, academic progress and standards of behaviour
To promote active citizenship by having an input into decision making concerning the future of the school
The Roles and Responsibilities of the School Council:
St Joseph's School Council meets at least each half term (with a senior leader) to discuss and sort out problems or to come up with great ideas or initiatives to make the school even better. These may include school lunches, behaviour, business plans or ideas for fundraising events. Members of the School Council will be responsible for carrying out ideas that they have agreed, such as planning charity events, meeting with Governors or putting forward views of other children in the School.
This is what the School Council said about their roles:
"We talk about how we can make school a healthier and better place"
"To make learning as fun as can be at school so children put their heart into it"
"We can get ideas from all the classes on how to make our school better"
"Our role is looking after teachers and people in the school"
"The School Council help the school to be the best it can be"
SCHOOL COUNCIL TRIP TO THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT AND 10 DOWNING STREET
The School Council had their trip to the Houses of Parliament and 10 Downing Street on Thursday 13th March 2025. It started with a trip to London by train and a scenic walk through London where we took in all of the sights that London has to offer.
On arrival at the Houses of Parliament Education Centre, we had to go through airport-style security before starting our tour. We were led through the very old buildings and learned lots of facts along the way. We stood in Central Lobby looking at the beautiful stained glass windows of the Patron Saints of all four nations. We were led up lots of stairs to the viewing gallery of the House of Commons where the seats are green. The MPs were debating the issues of the day and we were able to sit and listen for a few minutes. Then we were led to Westminster Hall and stood on the same steps as some of the greats, including Queen Elizabeth II, Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama and more recently President Zelensky. We also saw where the Queen had been lying in state when she died.
After this were were led to the House of Lords, the only area of Parliament where the King or Queen can visit. Here the seats are red. Again, we were able to hear about what they were debating on that day. We finished our visit to the Houses of Parliament with a visit to the Crypt. We were very lucky to have the opportunity to see the Crypt, it is a beautiful chapel under the Houses of Parliament.
At the end of the tour we had a workshop all about Laws and Debating in one of their classrooms. We had to choose a topic and had two opposing sides, one for the motion and one against. We debated several different topics and couldn't agree on even just one!
After our visit to Parliament, we made our way down to 10 Downing Street. There, we met one of Sir Kier Starmer's colleagues, who was very welcoming and eager to answer all of our burning questions! We were so excited to see where the Prime Minister lives and were keeping an eye out for any famous faces coming out of 10 Downing Street!
At the end of the visit we returned to Waterloo for our trip home. We had a fantastic but tiring day and have learned a lot about how our country is run.
School Council meeting with Governor Vanessa Vaughan
At this meeting the children were sharing the views of each class about what their dream of an excellent school would be like. The children were articulate and thoughtful in their discussions and highlighted respect, sharing , kindness, healthy eating, having fun lessons and no bullying. When asked how St Joseph’s could become an even better school their ideas included respect between parents and children, more practical activities in Science lessons, changing the basketball zones in the playground to include other sports and more subject based after school clubs.
The council said the most important thing the school could do would be to help people around the world as at St Joseph’s we have everything we need. The children also talked enthusiastically and proudly about the School’s recent success in a gymnastics competition, Science Week activities with Tiffin School staff and their litter collection and environmental work.
Vanessa Vaughan (Governor)
Previous school council achievements:
Improved playground – (KS2 Astro turf, table tennis, more equipment, replaced bark in bark area) (KS1 building equipment, stage area in KS1 playground).
New Library and wellbeing room.
More variety of after school clubs - (non-sport based) We provided Art Club, Bible Club, Zumba, Science Club and will be looking into other clubs which have been requested.