“Pupils are open, friendly and confident and this has a very positive influence on how they conduct themselves. They demonstrate excellent empathy in relation to other members of the school community”
It has long since been a tradition at Hilden Oaks Prep to give pupils a ‘voice’ and for them to be heard. Pupils’ voices help to shape their learning, their leisure and their experience of school life. As they progress through the school we provide opportunities for pupils to take on roles of responsibility and leadership thus preparing them for secondary school and beyond.
Pupil Leadership
When the children reach Year 6, a Pupil Leadership Team is elected through a democratic voting system, involving the whole school. This includes electing a head boy, head girl, deputies, and house captains. Each pupil who puts themselves forward for one of these roles has the opportunity to give a presentation to the rest of the school during the Hustings and it is then up to the rest of the school to vote. The Pupil Leadership Team act as role models for the younger children and are actively involved in school life. It is all great experience, which helps them grow in confidence, demonstrate leadership skills, and enable them to show empathy and kindness towards others.
“Pupils are given many different opportunities to show leadership through lesson activities and various projects.”
School Council
Children lower down the school are also given the opportunity to represent the views of their peers. The School Council is made up of the Head Boy and Head Girl together with elected pupils from Form 1 to Form 6. Each class has three pupil representatives per year (one per term) to give everyone the chance to sit on the council throughout their time at Hilden Oaks. This was something that the children themselves decided would be the fairest way for them all to take responsibility and to have a ‘voice’. The School Council meets once a week to discuss ideas for improvements and this is then fed back to the Headmistress. Obviously not all the ideas can practically be adopted, but it is important for pupils to feel invested and to have the opportunity to share their views and hopes for their school. This helps them feel good about making positive suggestions and to participate in some of the decision-making processes.
“I think it’s good to have the School Council because it’s not just the teachers who make decisions, the class views are also taken into account to help make the School better than it is already.”
Pupil Voice
When it boils down to levels of confidence to be able to speak out, we are all different and some children find it hard to find their voice in a crowd. Whether this be for something they deem to be unfair, friendship issues or when facing new emotional situations they haven’t previously experienced, such as bereavement. At Hilden Oaks, we lay great importance to listening to everyone – especially those who need help. We have a dedicated member of staff whose responsibility it is to provide both pastoral and emotional literacy (ELSA) support for children. This trusted adult is trained to listen to a child’s problems or concerns, help them to develop their emotional understanding of the situation, and to find appropriate coping skills for many of life’s challenges.
“Sometimes people struggle to show their feelings or are afraid to speak in front of others, so it’s good that there is a trusted adult to talk to in private if we need to.”