What is School Council?

School Council provides a unique opportunity for pupils at William Tyndale to have a voice in the decisions about their school community and learning environment. Children from each class are selected or nominated to represent their class. During School Council, an agenda is set for each session, created by the children and Corinne Atsu-Valentine (Pastoral Leader). For each meeting a chair and secretary are chosen to lead the meetings with Corinne’s support.

How are the children’s voices heard?

School Council information is passed on to the Head Teacher; it is also shared with staff during business meetings. Sometimes the Family and Staff Association (F&SA) attends the meeting to enable children to ask pressing questions. Minutes of meetings are sent to each class teacher who discusses them with the whole class and during assemblies. We have also invited outside agencies to School Council, at the request of pupils or Corinne, to support some of the issues which children at William Tyndale are interested in. School Council also contributes to the monthly newsletter regarding special events.

School Council pupils can also be seen and heard in the borough of Islington’s anti-bullying conferences, held each year with many primary schools from across the borough. They present most impressively on issues that affect our community. School Council attended Islington Town Hall last year to share their ideas with our local councilor to compare their roles and jobs.

Some matters arising during School Council meetings:

  • Dining hall environment
  • Playground equipment
  • Attendance and punctuality
  • Assembly
  • Gardening
  • Recycling
  • Peer mentoring and prefects

Current and recent projects include:

  • Healthy Schools
  • Keeping fit
  • Making healthy choices
  • Being happy
  • Road safety
  • Crossing the roads safely
  • Walk to school programmes
  • Riding bikes
  • Safe clothing when it is dark
  • Arsenal’s holiday programme to support children’s progress
  • Anti-Bullying conferences at the Emirates Stadium
  • ShelterBox, our chosen charity
  • Becoming a Rights and Respecting School
  • Plans for celebrating our school’s centenary
  • Skills for Enabling Enterprise