Student Council & Leadership

The Student Council is a fantastic opportunity for our students and something we offer to every year group here at Whitworth Park Academy.   

At WPA, we like to think of the Student Council as the voice of our school. The Student Council engage in regular meetings and discuss ideas that they have received from their wider year group. They make their voices heard; they plan proposals to take to our Senior Leadership Team to discuss and promote the changes that they would like to see in school. Our Student Council are confident and passionate young people with vision – they represent what is important to our young people around school, and they make these changes happen.  

The school belongs to our students, and at WPA we strongly believe they have the right to make the changes that they’d like to see happen in their school. We want our students to feel heard, we believe the Student Council is the perfect way to make this happen.   

In the Student Council, we promote respect, community and kindness. Indeed, the students have the opportunity to promote charities that are close to their hearts, and we give them the platform to do so. You can often find members of our Student Council organising bake sales, sponsored silences and other new and exciting ways to raise money for charities of their choice. Our Student Council often work with the wider community too, promoting food banks during the winter months and handing out food packages to our elderly neighbours. Our students understand and appreciate the importance of giving.   

The Student Council will also be a friendly face to visitors around our school, often taking part in open evenings and showing our year 6 visitors around school. This is because the Council are proud to be a part of a school that they have a say in developing. Our Student Council play an important role in the growth of our school, and this is something they take a lot of pride in when welcoming visitors to our school.   

This year, our Student Council plan to organise more safe ways to raise money for charity as well as awareness of mental health. Our Council recognise that mental health is now more important than ever, and we are in the process of thinking of new and creative ways to raise awareness and end the stigma around mental health.   

Our Student Council are proud of their school. They are responsible, proactive and determined young people and we are so proud of them!   

Student Leadership Programme

Developing Student Leadership across the Academy is key, as when given the opportunity young people can have a profound impact on their schools. Involvement in leadership activities can improve pupils’ learning as well as helping them to develop the skills and traits needed for success outside of the classroom. 

Whitworth Park believes Student Leadership can provide our students with a range of opportunities to help develop their key skills such as communication, prioritization, listening and feedback. Furthermore, Student Leaders can also have a positive impact on their peer’s education, as Student Leaders will share their knowledge and experience to inspire and help others. 

 Aims 

· To empower students to work in partnership with staff towards shared goals. 
· To enable creativity to flourish as the school community benefits from the wealth of experiences, ideas, skills that students bring. 
· To provide opportunities for students to develop leadership skills through a variety of inspiring, challenging and valued projects which impact positively on learning, teaching and well-being for both students and staff at Whitworth Park Academy. 
· To prepare students for the next step in their learning journey beyond life at Whitworth Park Academy, allowing them to achieve personal and professional excellence. 

Leadership Opportunities 

Students can apply for the following roles and responsibilities on Whitworth Park leadership programme 

Head Students – Lead your year group, be a role model for other students, lead meetings, assemblies and be the voice for your year group. 

Prefects – organise and promote fundraising activities and events for different charities, lead tutor activities, assemblies and extra-curricular clubs, organise and promote activities and events within the year group.  

Reading Ambassadors – write book reviews, access new book titles first and be a reading buddy for other students. 

Transition Leaders – Assist as student helpers during future open evening events, fresher’s weeks and visits from Primary School children. 

Extra-Curricular Leaders – lead on clubs, speak to students about clubs they would like and promote clubs available to students. 

School Council Leads – lead student council meetings, organise agenda and meeting minutes and be a voice for the students. 

Student Council Reps – be a voice for your tutor group, work as a team and make a difference to the school. 

Student Leader expectations 

Student Leaders are the school’s role models. Student Leaders need to be a student who works hard to reach schools expectation of outstanding behaviour, 97% attendance and constant punctuality. Student Leaders need to maintain excellent standards of full and correct school uniform. Student Leaders will be required to wear, Student Leadership identification (badge). 

Personal qualities of a Student Leader 

· You should like working with and talking to other students 
· You should be able to build good working relationships with staff and students 
· You should want to make a lasting impact at school and be involved in decision making 
· You should be able to work well in a team 
· You should have good time management skills e.g. balancing commitments 
· You should be polite, mature, responsible and reliable at all times