Pupils from Saint Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe have formed a School Parliament with the aim of increasing the involvement of young people in the life and decision making of the school.

Each member is elected onto the School Parliament and, once elected, the main purpose of the group is to represent all the pupils of the school, which means that the Parliament is a forum for active and constructive pupil input into the daily life of the school community.

 

School Parliament members represent all pupils in each year group at Saint Paul’s Catholic High School. They are elected by the pupils to represent their ideas and views.

 

Currently the members are very busy promoting new initiatives like the new pupil newsletter called ‘Pupil Voice’ which has interesting articles and competitions. They are working with teachers in school to make Saint Paul’s even better and they are getting involved in the local community and other schools to promote ‘Pupil Voice’.

 

Ms Michelle Davies, School Parliament Link teacher, explained: “The purpose of the School Parliament is to give the pupils a real voice within a manageable system and encourage the students  to take ownership and responsibility for their school. At the same time it enables staff to gain pupil perspective.”

“The School Parliament also raises awareness amongst the pupils about democratic systems and rights in line with Citizenship education and allows them to gain important life skills, such as speaking and listening skills, teamwork, problem solving, oral reasoning skills, self esteem and self confidence,” added Ms Davies.

 “The position of Member of School Parliament (MSP) is one of responsibility and one which provides an important connection between pupils and staff. Becoming a MSP is a valuable goal, it plays an important part in a pupil’s personal development and opens their mind to new levels of responsibility and participation in a very positive way.” commented Mr Wiktor Daron, Head Teacher at Saint Paul’s. “