Agenda item

This is the third year the Primary and Young Parliaments have been convened, they give children and young people the valuable opportunity to meet and debate a chosen theme, present their workshop discussions to the assembly and vote on the presentations, the theme chosen for the  Parliaments was ‘Me, Myself, My School’.

The Strategic Commissioning Officer introduced this item to the Panel. She explained that this year the theme for the event was Me, Myself, My School and that there had been a very good representation from schools across B&NES, 34 Infant, Junior and Primary schools attended as did one independent school, bringing with them a total of 116 pupils and 11 Secondary schools were represented by 55 pupils.

She informed the Panel of the key points from the event.

Key Stage 1:

• More opportunities for Year 6 Pupils to work with Key Stage 1 pupils, reading to reception, coming into classes  to help, supporting in the playground.
• Better playtimes.

Key Stage 2:

• More outdoor learning opportunities.
• Pupils and teachers to collaborate more in planning.
• Pupils to be given and take more responsibility.
• Introduction of a Traffic Lights system for pupils to mark their work before handing it in. Red / Amber / Green to indicate to teachers how well pupils have understood or enjoyed a lesson or activity.
• To have more opportunity to be active.
• Accepting yourself for who you are.

Young Parliament:

• MYP to visit School Leadership Teams early in the Autumn Term to discuss how pupils could be more involved in the running of schools.
• PSHE to be more reflective of well-being and next steps in life post 16.

The Drug & PSHE Consultant addressed the Panel. She explained that St Mark’s School, Bath was chosen as the host school for this year’s Young Parliament and that a core group of pupils from St Mark’s, under the direction of Ms Stella Pakeman, Student Leadership, helped with the coordination and running of the day.

She said that the reports from both Parliaments would be sent to all schools to inform them of the outcomes.

She added that the matter of safety was mentioned in the Key Stage 1 discussions and that the work of the Equalities Teams within school could be utilised.

She said that pupils that took part in the Young Parliament wanted to become more involved in the work of the school, including recruitment and attending leadership meetings. They also wanted to see a wider range of pupils involved in this work.

The Chair commented that the students will see the true worth of the event when their recommendations are implemented. She added that future reports on this subject should give details on the effects of the previous year’s recommendations.

Councillor Dine Romero suggested that pupils could be invited to attend a future meeting of the Panel to discuss any changes that have occurred as a result of the Parliaments.

Councillor Alan Hale commented that as fear / safety was mentioned in both reports does the policing level of the area need to be looked at.

The Chair said that she would feed those comments back through her role on the Police & Crime Panel.

The Drug & PSHE Consultant commented that the results of the SHEU (Schools Health Education Unit) survey would show further information in relation to pupils and their feelings.

The Chair asked for that information to be shared with the Panel.

The Director for Children & Young People, Strategy and Commissioning replied that the Panel could receive a report regarding the SHEU survey at a future meeting.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Councillor Michael Evans commented that he would like to have seen more of a debate format incorporated into the event.

The Strategic Commissioning Officer replied that they planned to extend the time of the event next year to allow for more debate.

Councillor Sally Davis said that advance notice of the future dates was welcome and that she endorsed attendance by Councillors.

Councillor Liz Hardman agreed with the comments made by Councillor Davis and said that she would welcome the involvement of more schools and asked officers to do what they could to increase attendance. She added that she would like to see the issues of PSHE, Life Skills and Finance expanded upon within schools.

The Drug & PSHE Consultant replied that PSHE is not a statutory subject but that it is well supported within B&NES.

The Strategic Commissioning Officer added that the officers involved always look to build on the work of the previous years.

Councillor Dine Romero suggested that key local businesses could be invited to take part in future events.

Councillor Alan Hale said that he saw the role of PHSE Lead Officer within schools as an important role and asked as it was not a statutory subject the safety of their relevant positions.

The Drug & PSHE Consultant replied that the Lead Officer within the Council has been retained and that should show the level of commitment to the subject area. She added that many schools now had a PHSE Lead Officer.

The Chair said that the Council has an important role to play in creating responsible citizens.

The Panel RESOLVED to:

i)  Note the reports from the Primary and Young Parliaments 2015 held in academic year 2014/2015.

ii)  Note the dates of the 2016 Parliaments: Young Parliament -Thursday 11th Feb 2016, Primary Parliament - Wednesday 15^th June 2016.