Pupil Parliament

At Harvington C of E First and Nursery School, we believe that pupils come first and it is important that all the pupils have an active role in the way their school is run. Pupil Parliament benefits the whole school, pupils and teachers because it provides opportunities for pupils to communicate their opinions and influence the decisions that are made on their behalf.

Pupil Parliament promotes leadership opportunities and develops essential communication, organisation and debating skills. Pupil Parliament ensures that all the pupils within the school have an opportunity to share their thoughts, opinions and ideas.

Our successful Pupil Parliament is a well-respected body within the school and it consists of two class representatives (MPs) from Year 1 to Year 5 (with Reception joining later in the year), a Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.

Their peers, through a democratic process of voting, elect the MPs. The MPs then meet half termly to discuss key issues within the school. The information is then relayed back to the classes by the MPs to gather further viewpoints.

Members of Pupil Parliament receive specific training on how to represent and listen to all pupils and how to effectively gather information. They are responsible for giving feedback to pupils about what happened in response to their views and to action decisions that have been made or explain why they can’t happen

Purpose:

• To develop pupil voice across the school
• To give the children an experience of democracy and politics
• To enable the children to lead projects across the school
• To develop teamwork and confidence

Elections:

All children are given the opportunity to apply for minister roles within the Pupil Parliament. Prime Ministers and Deputy Prime Ministers shortlisted are asked to present to KS2 and then the children will vote to select the Ministers from the candidates. All the other Ministers are shortlisted based on quality of application.

What do we do? 

Ministers hold regular meetings with their class to discuss topics, issues and initiatives that affect them and their learning environment as well as charity events. The full Pupil Parliament meets half termly to discuss issues raised by the class and other important areas, evaluate the progress that has been made and determine the steps for the next half term.