Democracy is an important value at our school

Children, parents and staff have many opportunities for their voices to be heard at The Berkeley. Democracy is an important value at our school and central to how we operate. An obvious example is our School Council. The election of the School Council members reflects our British electoral system and demonstrates democracy in action: candidates make speeches to their class, pupils consider characteristics important for an elected representative, pupils vote and the candidate (one each class for years 1-5 and one from each house in year 6) with the most votes is elected. The term of office is an academic year and then the process is repeated. The School Council meets regularly to discuss issues raised by the different classes and these are in turn shared with the Headteacher. The council also make decisions about the charities the school supports and organise events to raise funds to support these chosen charities. Please see their section of the website under Berkeley’s Young Leaders.

Other examples of ‘pupil voice’ are:

• children agree their Class Charter and the rights and responsibilities associated with these; all children contribute to the drawing up of the charter
• using Pupil Feedback forms, or Pupil Voice meetings,  children are asked to respond and reflect on the teaching and learning
• children nominate various charities, then within their own class, select two to go forward to the School Council, who then vote to decide charities which we support
• Pupils are always listened to by adults and are taught to listen carefully and with concern to each other, respecting the right of every individual to have their opinions and voices heard. We encourage pupils to take ownership of not only their school but also of their own learning and progress. This encourages a heightened sense of both personal and social responsibility and is demonstrated on a daily basis by our pupils.