Federated Smart School Council

What is a Smart School Council?

A Smart School Council involves all the federated community members both children and adults (including Governors) in the federation.  It helps children to develop key skills around oracy, confidence and leadership. It supports children to become active, democratic citizens. There will be a Junior Leadership Team (JLT) made up of 2 children representatives from Year 2, 4, 5 and 6.

The Smart School Council model has three elements:

• Class meetings: these are short regular meetings that are held in every class during a set week.  An agenda is set and any child can add an agenda item for the whole federation to discuss by submitting to either the JLT or Leadership Team
• There are short, regular, structured and child-led meetings in every class across the federation
• Action teams or communication teams: sometimes it might be necessary for an action/communication team to address an item, meet with the Leadership Team/Governors, or community group

Involving everyone

The Class Meetings give every child, in every class a voice. It’s a way for people to find out what the whole federation thinks, for everyone to air their issues and suggest their ideas, and to develop important skills while doing so.

Child-led

Class meetings are led by the children. There are two key leadership roles in every meeting. Two different children perform these roles each meeting:

• One child who is the Class Meeting Leader/Chair (they welcome everyone to the meeting, choosing who gets to speak next and making sure everyone who wants to gets a chance to speak)
• One child who is the Class Meeting Note-taker/Secretary (they listen to the results of the meeting, and make notes – these can be hand written and placed in a plastic wallet, or typed.  The notes do not have to be very long)