School Council Blog
School Council Meeting - 26.3.12
At today's School Council Meeting, we invited Mr Grilli to update us on a number of issues
- Water Coolers - Mr Grilli explained that, whilst Governors had been really impressed by the case the children had made for new water coolers in classrooms, they were worried about the costs that this would involve each year and that it was unlikely that the project would be approved. School Councillors understood that this was an expensive proposal and that the original plan might not be possible. However they were keen to explore alternatives rather than let the proposal go altogether. One idea that was suggested was to start with two water fountains, one in the junior hall, with water piped from the kitchen and one in the infant entrance hall with a water supply from the ladies' cloakroom. School Council agreed to discuss this again at their first meeting after Easter and come up with a firm proposal for Mr Grilli to put to Governors.
- The Copse - Mr Grilli gave a general update and told School Council that the money (£1000+) raised by the sponsored bounce last year had not yet been spent. He said it was up to School Council to decide whether it should be put into general funds or used to buy a specific item. Councillors agreed that the children would like to know what their money had bought and would like it to be used for the sculptures in the copse.
- Golden Tickets. It was agreed that Sam and Cameron should meet with Mr Grilli to explain to him the idea for giving golden tickets at lunchtime instead of the golden table, which has gone by the wayside. They will report back to the next meeting.
- Plans for the quiet zone in the junior playground were at the moment on hold.
- Goalposts and footballs had been ordered (1 set per year group) for use on the field at lunchtime. Mr Grilli confirmed that £500 would be available for School Council to spend in the next financial year.
Meeting 16/1/12
Dear All,
This is Sam from School Council writing the blog.
Iyabo and Matthew went to a meeting of Formby Schools Voice. This is where all school councils talk about how to make Formby a better place for young people. This year. FSV hope to make a podcast and create a website or a web page for schools to add to their websites.
Each school council representative talked about their classes ideas on our plans for the quiet area in the junior playground.
Most of the classes liked the ideas, but some Y3/4 children said they needed somewhere for their chasing game. Some children didn't want toadstools because they were in the Infant playground but everybody liked the pencils for a boundary.
Each class suggested other things that they would like, such as goalposts for the field, a vegetable patch/allotment for Juniors, playground equipment and toys and improved markings on the Junior playground.
Everybody wanted to do something like Golden tickets to reward good behaviour at lunchtime.
We were all excited about School Council's trip to London.
Mrs Evans said she would write to Mr Grilli and Mr Williams to let them know what we had been talking about.
Next Meeting: Monday 30th January at 12.20 in the Community Room.
Meeting 13th December
y6 School Councillors reported back on their meeting with School Governors on 1st December. The Y6 representatives had made a powerpoint and explained to Governors why they thought it was important to improve drinking water in classrooms.
Mr Grilli had written a letter to School Council and Mrs Evans read it out. Governors had agreed that some action was needed to improve the water fountains but were concerned about costs. They agreed to look at the proposal again when they discussed the budget in April 2012.
Matthew's blog
School Council meeting on 21st November
Today we started off by looking at the plan of the junior playground and the area where we would like to make our quiet zone.
Lots of different ideas were put forward and we all agreed that we would like to see the following items:
- square planters with benches between.
- circular tables with benches.
- toadstools
- a storyteller chair
- a noughts and crosses board
- posts or giant pencils to separate the area from the rest of the playground.
- a tepee
- seats that moved up and down
- a maze made out of seats
- seats shapes like snowflakes
Preparations are under way for this year's Christmas cracker and School Council members were asked if they would like to help in the Community Room on Thursday, Friday 24th and 25th November.
Year 6 School Council members would meet Mrs Evans in the computer suite on Monday 28th November to prepare their presentation on water coolers for the Governors meeting on Thursday 1st December and School Council would meet again in the Spring term.
Rachel's blog
School Council meeting on 7th November
Last Monday Y6 councillors went round school to try the water fountains and most of them tasted disgusting so we want to get new ones. Iyabo and Sophie told us about their meeting with Aquaid and James and Matthew showed us how the African water pumps work - if we get new water coolers, Aquaid will buy some of these pumps to help provide clean water for a village in Africa.
Also we are thinking about creating a quiet garden near the shelter on the Junior playground. This would not be a play area but somewhere where we could walk and chat. Each year group was given a catalogue to look at and pass around before the next meeting so we can see the different types of equipment we might choose from.
We would also like some more small items for the playground like netball hoops/hula hoops etc. We agreed to discuss this at the next meeting in 2 weeks (Monday 21st November).
Hello, it's Cameron from Y4 who is writing the blog this time.
At our last meeting on Monday 17th October we talked about the ideas that had been raised in the different year groups. We had a lot of amazing ideas and I'm going to tell you them right now.
Year 3
- real goal posts for the field
- friendship bench/stop
- school pets
- new teacher desks
- repairs to the trim trail
- more clubs eg chess, gardening, first aid, art and cycling
- a vegetable garden for the juniors
- chill out area on the playground or field
- Year 5
- a greenhouse
- more equipment for the junior playground
- a pond for the copse
- a new TV for the juniors
Some children know that they can play anywhere on the playground but not everyone. The council asked Mrs Evans to talk to Mr Williams so that everyone knew the new rule, especially the lunchtime staff.
Because the infants were eating in the junior hall, there hasn't been a golden table this term. Sam suggested that instead of golden table, the lunchtime staff could give golden tickets for good manners and good behaviour at lunchtime. These could be collected in class and when 30 or 50 had been collected, the class could have a treat like an extra playtime or a class mufti. Mrs Evans agreed to talk to Mr Grilli about this.
Thank you for reading my blog. Hope you enjoy the next one.
10.10.11
The first full meeting of School Council was held today. We agreed that Iyabo would chair the Council and Matthew would be Vice Chair. Everyone would take it in turns to write the blog, with Mrs Evans doing the first one!
Mr Grilli came to the meeting to explain what was happening with the copse. He explained that, because we were having to put chemicals on the roots of the old poplar trees to prevent them regrowing, this meant a short delay in developing the copse as we had planned. However, work was going to be done this week to relay some of the paths and it was hoped that more planting could be done in November. Mr Grilli asked School Council to think about how they would like the outdoor classroom to look and what else they would like to see in the copse. He also asked councillors to think about any other developments they would like to see in the school grounds and playground. Some of the ideas mentioned included - a quiet area in the Junior playground, goalposts for the field, basketball hoops for the Junior playground and additional equipment for the Infant trimtrail. Mrs Evans agreed to pass these ideas on to Mr Grilli.
School Council agreed to meet next week (17th October) to discuss other suggestions from children in different year groups.
27.6.11
We held a short meeting today to discuss the sponsored bounce. A letter will go out tomorrow and council members agreed to talk to their classes about it and encourage everyone to get lots of sponsors. We raised about £40 from our stalls at the Summer Fair and as a thank you, FOWSA agreed to pay for the hire of the bouncy castle. This means everything we raise from sponsorship will go towards the outdoor classroom in the copse.
13.6.11
For the Summer Fair, we are raising money for the outdoor classroom in the copse. We have come up with two ideas for stalls - guess the number of sweets in the jar and rolling the 10p challenge. We also agreed to have a sponsored bounce on 6th and 7th July and we will send out letters about this event soon. At the end of the year we will be doing an eco-project with all the other Formby Schools. We have chosen the copse as our project to talk about at this celebration.
Holly
28.4.11
At today's meeting of School council we decided that the focus of our meetings for the summer term would be the development of the copse. We decided to have one major fund raising event this term to raise money for the copse. School council members to go back to their classes and discuss ideas. josh and Nathan reported back on a meeting of Formby Schools' Voice. it had been decided that an event would be held at the end of term to celebrate all the different eco projects that schools in Formby had been involved in. We were going to meet at Range in May to discuss our ideas in more detail.
No decisions had been made by Governors yet about the new water coolers. It was agreed that we should ask Mr Grilli about this.
10.3.11
When we finally got to London it was magnificent. There were thousands of buildings and millions of houses. After lunch, we queued for our trip on the London Eye. It was like we were flying and there were beautiful views.
Parliament was amazing. I liked the House of Lords better than the House of Commons because there were beautiful chairs! Later on we went to Prezzo's and it was time to eat, eat, eat! We were all starving after our long day trip to London and the food was magnificent.
Holly
My favourite part of going to London was when we went on the London Eye. I also liked the 4D movie and the Houses of Parliament. I liked the food at Prezzo's and the train was good too, especially the shop.
Emma
On Thursday, 10th March, the School Council went to London for a visit to Parliament. In the morning we got the train to Liverpool and then got a big train to London. When we got to Euston we got the tube to Embankment and then walked over a bridge to the London Eye. We had our picnic and then we went on our flight on the London Eye. After our flight we went to see a 4D film about the London Eye, then made our way to the Houses of Parliament.
In Parliament, we had a tour around the building and saw the House of Commons and the House of Lords. We watched a debate about the rights of men and women, which was very exciting.
We enjoyed taking photos of all the different things we did. We got lots of great pictures of many of the London sights.
Later on we went back on the tube to Euston and went out for our tea to Prezzo's. It was great and my pizza was delicious.
After a very tiring dday we got on the train back to Liverpool and then Formby.
This was the best school trip ever.
Connor
On Thursday, 10th March, me and the other school council children went to London to learn about the Houses of Parliament. When I got on the massive train I couldn't wait to get to London because I was so excited. I had fun playing on my PSP and also talking to my friends Connor, Josh and Nathan. When we got off the train we went down the escalator underground and onto the Tube. I really enjoyed the Tube it was good fun. We walked on a bridge and we kept seeing a sign 'dodgy paving stone, watch out' it was so funny. Then we went to the London Eye, I was so scared but excited at the same time. When we got to the top we could see Wembley stadium. Then we went to see a 4D experience. 4D means that you could feel the different effects. It was amazing, I absolutely loved it.
Then we went to the Houses of Parliament. The guide took us around telling us what everything was about. Then we went to the House of Commons. They were saying a lot of words that I did not know. Then we went through to the House of Lords - they weren't talking as much in there. I preferred the House of Commons. Then we met our local MP, Bill Esterson. He is a Labour MP. We asked him some questions and he answered all of them. I asked him how old he was when he became an MP. He looked embarrassed when he told me it was only last year and he was 43.
That is what I enjoyed on my visit to London.
Dylan
24.2.11
Noah, Josh and Grace told School Council about their meeting with Mr Grilli. He was going to talk to Governors about new water coolers. They had agreed that, if some money could be found for these, the Aquaid fountains were the best and that the Infant classrooms should be fitted first.
Mrs Evans told the Council about the latest plans for the copse. Everybody agreed that, after our visit to London, this should be the main focus of our meetings. In the meantime, various members of the council agreed to draft letters which could be sent to nurseries and garden centres asking them to contribute trees for the copse.
Each year group had got feedback from their classes about the trim trail. This was very positive and children especially liked the monkey bars.
Year 5 council reps reported that children in their classes wanted the 'line' separating the playground into a 5/6 zone and a 3/4 zone to be removed. All the other school councillors agreed that children did not like only being able to use half the playground and not being able to play with their friends in other year groups. Mrs Evans was asked to talk to Mr Grilli and Mr Williams about this.
31.1.11
The extension to the trim trail has now been finished although it did not open on to the playground quite as we had expected. People who had used it seemed to like and councillors agreed to get feedback from their classes for the next meeting.
Josh, Grace and Noah had not yet met with Mr Grilli to talk about the water fountains, but would do so shortly.
Also, we talked about the copse and how the development was going. Mrs Evans agreed to arrange a joint meeting with the Eco Committee to discuss plans for fundraising. We agreed to ask House Captains to keep Comic Relief Day low key this year as we would be fund raising for the copse.
We discussed the Golden Table and whether any improvements could be made. It was suggested that people from the Golden Table and one friend could use the trim trail on a Friday and this would make it more appealing. More ideas at the next meeting please.
20.1.11
Firstly we talked about our three year plan for the Junior playground and how Play Force would start the work to extend the trim trail next week. This is the first year of the plan.
Also we discussed how some of our councillors (Noah, Grace and Josh) did when they talked to Mr Grilli and Mr Mitchell about the state of the water fountains. All these have now been repaired and cleaned. Furthermore, they will set up a meeting with Mr Grilli to talk about renting or buying water coolers from Thirst4Water or Aquaid. In addition, Mrs Evans, who helps run the meetings, collected leaflets for us all to look at.
We talked about our trip to London to go to the Houses of Parliament and how we would have some lessons to learn more about MPs and Parliament before our trip.
We were all pleased that School Council was going to be involved in the project to renew the Copse. We had lots of ideas and agreed to report back to our classes on the discussions we had in our meeting this week.
Our next meeting will be on Monday 31st January at 12.20 in the Community Room
15.12.10
Today we looked at the new plans from Play Force. They included all the items we wanted and we liked the layout. We were told that FOWSA had agreed to pay for the new items and that we would write a thank you letter.
Josh received a reply from Mr Grilli to his letter about water fountains. Josh, Grace and Noah would meet with Mr Grilli and Mr Mitchell before the end of term to look at the condition of the existing fountains and Mrs Evans would send for brochures from Aquaaid and Thirst4Water.
All fifteen members of the School Council had replied that they would like to go on the trip to the Houses of Parliament in March. Mrs Evans was going to book train tickets and give more details about the trip at the next meeting.
3.12.10
Today we met Brett from Play Force. We discussed our ideas with him and went to look at the existing trim trail to see how it could be improved. We also talked about our plans for the second and third years. We looked at the different equipment in the catalogue and chose up and over bars,a monkey walk, a 2 metre climbing net, a spring balance bar and a tyre twister. We chose these because we thought that they would be suitable for Y3 but still a challenge for Y6. We also looked at how we could put gates in the fence and make a path to the trim trail from the playground, though it might mean moving a tree and a bench.
2.12.10
At our meeting today we found out that a representative from Play Force would be coming to school to listen to our ideas for the Junior playground and draw up new plans. Josh's letter to Mr Grilli about water fountains had just been sent so no reply had been received yet.
We also listened to ideas put forward by different classes, including having class pets and improving the outside of the school with hanging baskets in summer and Christmas lights at this time of year - but we realized it might not be possible to spend money on this while the trim trail was being improved.
Nathan and Josh reported on the meeting of Formby Schools Voice that they had been to. Each school was to think of an eco project that they could do by themselves or with help from their high school. We talked about different ideas and decided that we would look into the possibility of applying for a grant for solar panels. FSV also discussed the idea of a skatepark for Formby and agreed that each school should write a letter to Councillor Griffiths about this and bring it to the next meeting.
Our next meeting - Thursday, 13th January
18.11.10
Our School council got together and discussed a three year plan on how to improve the junior playground. For the first year we decided to extend the trim trail and this could include climbing nets and up and over bars.
Then for year two an artistic and creative zone could be added.
Year three, after looking at feedback from all of our classes, they would like a stage to play on.
It would be useful if the designer from the company could come back into school to discuss these plans.
After that we discussed the water fountains and how we could improve them, we looked at two web sites Aquaaid and Thirst 4 water. These two companies provide cooled filtered water which would be linked to the mains water system. A donation would be made to water charities by both these companies if we bought units from them.
We thank Dylan a year 5 representative of school council, who
went to the Remembrance Day church service at Holy Trinity Church on behalf of School Council.
14.10.10
At our school council meeting we discussed the feedback we had got from our classes. They had decided that they did not want to get a massive piece of equipment that would take up to three years, they just wanted some simple things such as a stage or the musical or sensory areas. Everybody liked the idea of extending the trim trail and making it part of the playground instead of the field. Soon in our future meetings we will talk about our water fountains in our classrooms and how KS1 could be involved in the school council as well. Also items for the playground boxes, vegetable planters and how we could improve the infants quiet area.
07.10.10.
On Thursday the 7th October, our school council had their first meeting. We talked about electing a chair to run the meetings, after some great speeches and a vote we elected our new chair: Nathan. Also we voted in two bloggers, myself (Ruby) and my class mate, Josh. After all of this we all looked in to how to improve our playground, and found that we would be able to buy a music area, artistic area and also lots of seating equipment, these were just a few examples. Later on, we talked to our class on what they would like in our playground and took note. At our next school council meeting which will be held on Thursday the 14th October we will report back on are findings and take them on board.
Ruby the Blogger
