School Council 2018-2019

Autumn 1

Our first task was to help Mrs Austin at the Macmillan Coffee Morning, which was great fun and a huge success! We managed to raise over £900! 

Autumn 2

The half term started with the School Council deciding on which charity they would like to support this year. After a whole school ballot, we decided to support Isaac's House Orphanage in Uganda which provides a home for children affected by war, HIV and poverty. Many children have lost their parents and have been witness to shocking acts of violence.

          Isaac's House was founded by Paul Howells from Crosby in 2009. Through his passion and determination and with the help of volunteers it continues to grow.

          We at St Robert Bellarmine want to support him and his charity to help make a difference. Throughout this school year, we will hold different fund raising events to raise money. Please support us to support him.

More information about Isaac's House can be found at:

Children In Need

On Friday 16th November, we will be supporting Children In Need by holding a pyjama day to raise funds for Isaac's House Orphanage. Please help support us in this great cause.

School Council 2017 - 2018

Autumn 1

Our first task was to help Mrs Austin at the Macmillan Coffee Morning, which was great fun. At another of our weekly meetings we came up with ideas for "Children In Need". After a whole school vote, Pyjama Day won. Pupils donated £535 in total.

Autumn 2

We asked all pupils to vote on 2 charities they would like to raise money for. After a whole school ballot, the 3 most popular where: Ronald McDonald House; Jospice and Claire House. Just before Christmas, the School Council were asked where they would like the £147.40, raised by staff, to go. We decided by voting, to send it to Ronald McDonald House.

Spring 1

As well as keeping the attendance award (trip to the beach) for the pupils with the highest attendance, the School Council were asked for ideas, to reward the class with the highest attendance each term. We decided that each class should choose their own reward.

Our School Council have been discussing Equality and Diversity. Along with Miss Wignall we talked about it to the whole school at our School Council Surgery. We then asked if pupils would like to write a story, design a poster or compose a poem to enter our competition we are holding. We will then take them to the strand partnership meeting at Crosby Lakeside.

Spring 2

As part of our Equality and Diversity project with the Strand Partnership, we organised a competition to design posters or poems. Here are some of our favorites.

Summer 1

During the Summer Term the School Council have worked hard to raise money for Sefton Women's and Children's Aid (SWACA). The School Council thought it was important to raise money for a local charity, and the dedicated team at SWACA help women, young people and children survive the impact of Domestic Violence and Abuse by providing free practical and emotional support.

Together, the School Council came up with ideas about how to raise money for SWACA. They decided everybody could donate £1 to wear red, white or blue to school to celebrate the Royal Wedding. They also put up posters around the school to advertise that they were collecting spare change outside the school gates prior to school starting and at the end of the school day.

The children, parents and staff gave very generously and £600 was raised for Sefton Women's and Children's Aid. SWACA were overwhelmed with the support, and Neil, the Chief Executive came to an Assembly to receive the Cheque.

Summer 2

In addition to raising money for charity, the School Council thought it was important to raise awareness about the severity of dangerous and illegal parking outside school. Alongside Mrs Sutton, the School Council made signs and held them up outside the school gates at drop-off and pick-up times to ensure that nobody was parking on the zig-zag yellow lines. This is an issue the School Council feel strongly about, as dangerous parking can endanger children's lives.

School Council Surgery 2017

Alongside Mrs Sutton, all members of the School Council provided feedback to the rest of the school about what they had organized and voted on throughout the Autumn Term. The School Council organized 'Pyjama Day'. All pupils came to school dressed in their pyjamas to raise money for Children in Need - an amazing £535 was raised in total.

The School Council also told the pupils that they had voted for a charity that the staff could donate to instead of sending Christmas cards. 'Ronald McDonald House' were very thankful for the £147.40 donation.

Finally the School Council decided that the school should participate in 'Odd Sock Day' to support National Anti-Bullying Day and raise awareness about anti-bullying.

The whole school enjoyed listening to the fantastic work the School Council had done throughout the Autumn Term.

The Governors go on a Learning Walk with the School Council

Here are some of the things that impressed our Governors

•    the confidence and friendliness of the school councillors and their obvious pride in the school
•    the quality of the displays and the variety of topics
•    the inspirational art work in the dining hall
•    the prominence given to the success tree displayed in the corridor
•    the “Magic moments” hanging in reception
•    variety of charitable endeavours undertaken by the school and the information supplied by the school councillors
•    the impeccable behaviour of the children, how thoroughly engaged they were in their work in every class
•    the quality of work we observed as we visited different year groups 
•    we were able to observe the children using maths resources very effectively
•    touring the school we were able to witness examples of quality teaching and the great respect the children have for their teachers 
•    the improvements that have been made to the school over recent years, the Early Years Department and the increased size of some of the classrooms and outdoor areas
•    the genuine close bond that was obvious between staff and children right throughout the school
•    the lessons we were lucky to see and the classes we visited showed the enjoyment and engagement of all the children in everything they were doing
•    the teaching of other faiths right throughout the school 
•    I am lucky as a parent to know through my own children how good the school is and how much they actually enjoy it but to see it again first hand reaffirms it all for me.

What our School Councillors love about our school!

Owen     -    I’m pleased that we have a Defibrillator in school and am impressed  that all staff

have been trained in how to use it, even Mrs Dowell! I like the way we are doing activities like Film nights to raise money for another defibrillator
Lottie -     I am proud of how advanced our work is! I love the way our teachers push us to go   further with our work and help those   who need a bit more help.  If someone doesn’t understand a Teacher or TA will help.  All our teachers are really caring.
Elizah -     I really like the new curriculum. I also love the Numicon equipment, it can help with adding and partitioning.  I like using the Success criteria, it helps you to know if you’ve got something right.
Isabelle -    I love how  close we are as a school! In Y1 for instance everyone was sharing no one upset, or by themselves.  We don’t just have English and Maths , we saw Dance in Y5, Y3 were drawing pictures in the style of Picasso, there’s a good range of subjects and activities.
Alfie -    I like the way everyone looks out for each other and other people.  And it’s not just in our school. When we did the Sierra Leone Fun Run we were looking out for other children around the world. We are raising money to adopt a child from Sierra Leone.  I also like working with other schools and partnerships like the Strand. 

    “I  love the football team!”
    “ I like taking part in all the different activities!”
    “Our school is like a family!”
    “ Everyone is really helpful!”
    “I don’t want to leave!!”
    “It’s amazing!!” 
    “We’re all together!!”

Each year our children are asked if they would like to be school councillors.  They fill in an application form giving reasons why they would make a good contribution to our school as a councillor.  Our school councillors this year are:

Lottie 

Alfie & Isabelle 

Owen & Elizah

Ross & Harsha 

Millie & Harry 

Olivia & Anthony

Here are some quotes from the children as part of their campaign to be elected school councillor

Lottie "This year as chairperson I promise I will work hard and represent every pupil in our school.  I am prepared to speak to Mrs Dowell and other members of staff on behalf of all of you."

Anthony "It sounds fun and important, I am a good listener and I would like to improve the reading area so we can access books on line."

Olivia "I have lots of ideas I would like to share.  I am kind, I like to listen to other children's ideas and I would like to encourage all the children to feel happy and have a good attitude."

Harry "I listen to people's opinions and if people have hospital appointments they can go the beach."

Millie "I would like to be involved in positive changes in our school because I think that I would come up with good ideas.  In each class you should have buddies to help friends and bike safety for everyone."

Ross " I would like to become confident speaking in front of other people.  I am really good at following instructions and making plans with my friends.  I would be good at discussing ideas."

Harsha "I would like to improve collecting litter and stuff like that.  I will make sure that the school is tidy and everyone looks after the equipment and introduce more things for charity."

Owen "I like to speak and come up with ideas to make the school a better place, I come up with good ideas and listen also I want to show everyone how sensible I can be.  I would change where we sit and add some bench areas and add some clubs such as (football tournament clubs).  I would also like to introduce more stuff for girls."

Elizah "I would make a good school councillor because I will be a voice for our class, I will listen to and represent my classmates to the best of my ability.  I would like to encourage every member of the school to have a piece of fruit or vegetable from the fruit trolley every day to keep them healthy.  I will also find out what else pupils want in our school."

Alfie "I want to get involved with pupils and teachers to help all years and the school .  I have the ability, I am a good listener, kind person and I am sensible and fair.  To introduce a trip out to Gullivers World as a treat and bring in a girls football team so it evens out between the boys and the girls."

Isabelle "It's something I have always wanted to do.  I don't give up easily, I promise all my fellow pupils that I won't give up on them ever, and I will always do my best for them.  I would like to improve in our school, the school library and would like to see more children using the library.  We have some wonderful books but not enough children in our school take advantage of it!"

St Robert Bellarmine has a dedicated School Council, who work hard to provide opportunities for pupils to communicate their feelings as well as influence decisions that are made.

Our motto is "We are the voice of the Children".

What do we do?

Members of the Council meet regularly with Mrs Sutton. They take part in discussions and votes and also feed back any relevant information to their class. At times they are requested to ask their class for ideas or take class votes relating to discussions by the Council.

The fantastic work of the Council

The children have already carried out some fantastic work this term, such as:

• working with Year 4 to promote anti-bullying
• fundraising for Sierra Leone
• improving the reward for excellent attendance
• raising awareness of how to be energy efficient 

Fundraising for Sierra Leone

The council members have worked extremely hard to promote our fundraising campaign which supports our partnership school in Waterloo, Sierra Leone.

The children designed posters and worked alongside Mrs Dowell to raise awareness of their fundraising during a special whole school assembly.

Four members of the council went to Rimrose Hope Primary School to create a special video (which can be downloaded via our Podcast page). This film has been played locally to many other schools and as a result, we have received more kind donations for this worthy cause.

The children thought carefully about ways to raise money during one of their weekly meetings and then voiced their opinions to Mrs Dowell, who was delighted with their ideas.

So far, the children have raised money by:

• making and selling loom bands
• weekly raffles
• film nights for children
• selling special wristbands

The children will also be actively involved during our Fun Run on Friday 28th November .

The Council met in September to discuss ways to improve the reward for excellent attendance.  They voiced their ideas and opinions and then presented them to Mrs Dowell. As a result, we have a new whole school reward system which means that the top 40% of pupils with the best attendance record will be taken on a special day trip to the beach at the end of the school year!

Regular and punctual attendance is an essential prerequisite to effective learning. At St Robert Bellarmine we aim to develop an ethos which demonstrates to children, parents/carers and the wider community how much we value good attendance and punctuality.

We like to recognise and reward the excellent attendance of many of our pupils and believe that the work which has been carried out by our council members will help to promote this.

Each week, results are announced during assembly and a display in the hall allows children to see which class has the best attendance record. The class with the best attendance of the week is also rewarded. Each half term, the records are taken down and the display begins again!