Pupil Voice

Rights Respecting Team (School Council)

Article 12 – Every child has the right to express their views and have them taken seriously.

Article 42 – Children have the right to know about their rights. Adults should know about these rights too and help children learn about them.

Lead Adult: Helen Cornish

The Rights Respecting Team plays a vital role in promoting children's rights across the school and wider community. Each year, children participate in an ethical recruitment process, with two Rights Respecters selected from every class from Reception to Year 6.

The team meets regularly to discuss issues that matter to children and to ensure that pupil voice remains at the heart of school improvement. Through their work, children learn about advocacy, leadership, democracy, and the importance of respecting the rights of others.

Strengthening Pupil Voice

This year, one of our key priorities has been to further strengthen pupil voice. Every classroom now has a Pupil Voice Box where children can share ideas, suggestions, concerns, and feedback about school life.

Class teachers work alongside the Rights Respecters to review submissions and select key themes for discussion at fortnightly Rights Respecting Team meetings. This process helps children understand how decisions are made, demonstrates that their views are valued, and enables them to become active participants in shaping their school environment.

As a result of children's ideas and feedback, the school has implemented a number of positive changes, including:

Choosing and leading school campaign themes
Reviewing and updating the Playground Charter
Contributing to changes to the school menu
Identifying priorities for school improvement

These opportunities ensure that children's voices are heard and that they experience the impact they can have as leaders and change-makers within their community.

Play Buddies

Article 12 – Every child has the right to share their views and contribute to decisions that affect them.

Article 31 – Every child has the right to rest, relax, play and take part in cultural and creative activities.

Lead Adult: Lauran Land

Our Play Buddies are pupil leaders who volunteer to support positive play experiences during lunchtimes. They organise and lead a range of games and activities, helping to create an inclusive, enjoyable, and active environment for all children.

At the beginning of each school year, children across the school share their ideas about the activities they would like to see available during playtimes. These suggestions help shape a balanced programme of opportunities, including energetic team games, creative activities, and quieter spaces such as reading and mindfulness areas.

Through their role, Play Buddies:

Promote positive relationships and inclusion
Encourage participation and teamwork
Support children's wellbeing through play
Develop their own leadership, communication, and organisational skills
Help ensure that every child has opportunities to enjoy their right to play

The Play Buddy programme supports our wider commitment to developing confident, responsible young leaders while promoting physical literacy, wellbeing, and personal growth.

Creating Opportunities for Pupil Input and Feedback

Article 12 – Every child has the right to express their views and have those views taken seriously.

At Parklands, we believe that children should have meaningful opportunities to share their views and influence decisions that affect them.

Alongside the Pupil Voice Boxes and the work of the Rights Respecting Team, children contribute their opinions through a range of pupil consultation activities throughout the year.

Eco Council

Lead Adult: Katie Price

We are so proud that our Eco Pupil Voice group achieved the Green Eco Flag Award in the Summer of 2025- this took a lot of work and is fantastic for us, complimenting our Learn Together work on the environment as part of the Educate Together ethos. Our flag can sometimes be seen flying on our flag pole near the playground gate- have you seen it?

The Eco Team meets fortnightly and plays an important role in promoting environmental awareness across the school. Through their work, pupils help to encourage sustainable practices and inspire others to care for the environment.

Eco Team members work together to identify ways to reduce waste, increase recycling, save energy, improve our school grounds and support our commitment to becoming a more sustainable school community.

In Key Stage 1, Eco Counsellors are selected by class teachers based on their enthusiasm and commitment to caring for the environment. In Key Stage 2, pupils apply for the role by writing a letter explaining why they would like to join the Eco Team and how they can contribute to the school's environmental goals. Team members are then selected from these applications.

The Eco Team has successfully led a range of initiatives, including:

Organising and promoting school recycling schemes
Leading litter-picking activities around the school grounds
Conducting environmental surveys to identify areas for improvement
Creating bug hotels to encourage biodiversity
Building hedgehog homes within our Forest School area
Raising awareness of environmental issues through assemblies and campaigns
Encouraging the school community to reduce energy consumption and waste

Through these projects, our Eco Team demonstrates how pupils can make a meaningful contribution to protecting the environment and improving our school for future generations.

Annual Pupil Survey

Every year, all pupils are invited to complete a whole-school survey. The feedback gathered provides valuable insight into children's experiences and helps us identify strengths, priorities, and areas for development.

The information collected is used to:

Inform the School Development Plan
Set future school improvement targets
Identify priorities for the Rights Respecting Team
Evaluate the impact of initiatives across the school
Ensure that children's views continue to shape decision-making

By listening to and acting upon children's views, we demonstrate our commitment to Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and ensure that pupil voice remains a key driver of school improvement.

We completed a survey of all children in the school in term 6 2025, giving us some things to celebrate and also highlighting areas we need to improve during the academic year 2025-26. The summary of the survey can be found below:

92% of children said they are happy at school.
89% of pupils told us they feel safe when they are at school.
90% of children said they have an adult they can talk to if they are worried or upset.
93% of pupils feel that adults help them understand how to improve their work.
87% of children enjoy the topics and learning experiences on offer.
94% of pupils know the behaviour expectations at school.
87% of children believe good behaviour is noticed and rewarded.
84% of pupils value the range of after-school clubs and exciting experiences.

Target for 2025–26: Ensure that all children feel adults listen equally when dealing with behaviour, as some children in upper Keystone 2 said this can be disruptive to them.
Target for 2025–26: Continue to widen opportunities so every child feels their voice is heard and respected, especially during playtimes.