The School Council is an integral part of life at Chapelford Village Primary School. Our pupils are democratically elected by their classmates and serve as the voice of their peers, fostering a sense of inclusion and collaboration across the school.

The council meets regularly during term time to discuss topics that matter the most to our students, such as fundraising ideas, developing our school community and organising debates on subjects important to our children. The Smart School Council tool helps to collate votes and the views of our pupils during debates and the representatives then gather feedback and ideas from their classmates and work together, sometimes collaborating with school ambassadors and the head boy and girl, to create actionable plans that benefit the whole school community and drive important issues forward.

Year 6 council members also visit Reception and Year 1 classes to ensure even our youngest children have a say.

Through their work, the School Council helps students feel empowered, valued, and engaged in making Chapelford a great place to learn and grow and our wider a community a better place to live.

At Chapelford Village Primary School we believe the object of an effective school council is to help children and young people to:

  • enjoy and feel empowered by their education;
  • feel that their school responds to their needs and views;
  • have the opportunity to let adults know their feelings and opinions about things that affect them;
  • have a say about decisions, and to play an active role in making their school and community a better place
  • develop active life skills through participating.

A child from every class from Year 2 to Year 6 are democratically voted on the School Council by their peers. They take whole school issues and ideas from their own class and feed them into the School Council. They also share ideas and decisions from School Council with their class. Decisions made within School Council can, and do, have a real impact on the rest of the school. School council members from Year 6 visit children in Reception and Year 1 to gather their ideas, views and feedback information to them.

What do we do?

The School Council meets regularly in term time to discuss issues that are important to children in our school. These may include concerns or ideas that children have brought to their attention, debating and discussing issues that affect them in school and in the wider community or ideas for fundraising events.

School Council representatives gather pupil voice from their class and feed those thoughts through at School Council meetings. The School Council decide which of those to act upon and then create a plan to make those changes happen. They also lead planned debates with their classes on a variety of issues in and out of school, using the Smart School council tool, ensuring all children have a chance to speak and be heard.  School Council reps are also responsible for feeding back information to their classes so that all pupils know that their voices are being listened to and valued. Further to this, School Council members also play a crucial role in coordinating fundraising efforts within school and representing the school during events such as open evenings and other school-wide events.

 

Voting has taken place in each class and we now have our new School Council, see below. The class representatives will be listening to their class and passing on information/views/requests at each council meeting. They will also be in charge of fundraising over the school year.

School Council Representatives 2025-26

Year 2: Mannat, Isla, Ada

Year 3: Thea, Kyrylo, Sienna

Year 4: Mason, Iris, Sophia

Year 5: Leo, Arthur, Bella, Ophelia

Year 6: Emily, Jesse, Max, Ben

  • To provide a platform for the voices of pupils to be heard through elected representation.
  • To enact positive action as a direct result of pupil voice.
  • To share our role, values and priorities clearly and regularly with pupils, staff and governors in an ongoing conversation.
  • To champion pupil voice and leadership, developing its role within our school community.
  • To champion charitable causes and to facilitate pupil-led fundraising for causes important to pupils.
  • To champion sustainability and environmentally friendly practices through pupil-led initiatives.