Pupil Voice
'I talk to a lot of young people—their attitude, determination to make a difference, innovative spirit and desire to change things give me hope.'
(Kofi Annan 2014)
Pupil Leadership Group
When the pupils begin Year 6 they can put themselves forward and campaign to become Head Boy and Head Girl. The children create video presentations to the school, who then vote for the candidates they believe will help make Danson an even better place be.
House Captains
When a child joins Danson Primary, they are assigned to a house. House points are awarded to individual pupils for showing the Danson values, producing excellent work and making positive behaviour choices. These points contribute to an overall points total for their house. The houses are named after mountains within the United Kingdom and are represented by different colours. Each house has a House Master who has overall responsibility for the house and oversees meetings and activities working closely with the House Captains.
The four houses and House Masters are as follows:
Ben Nevis (yellow) – Miss Jones
Snowdon (blue) – Miss Sims
Slieve Donard (green) – Mr Alexis
Helvellyn (red) – Miss Tuffley
Each year, pupils from Year 6 are invited to apply to become Captain for their house and present their reasons for wanting to do so. Elections are then held and two Captains per house are selected.
The role of the House Captains is to promote their house within the school community. They also represent the house in celebration assemblies where the winning house each week is celebrated along with the individual successes of pupils within the houses. Another part of the role is to attend regular meetings with the staff House Leaders to arrange cross-house activities and competitions and to follow this up with the promotion of such events. The House Captains are expected to act as positive role models and to take an active interest in the wellbeing of pupils within the school.
School Council
The aim for this year is to ensure the School Council are the voice of pupils in the school and are able to share the opinions and wants of their class.
The School Council members are given the responsibility to support in whole school fundraising activities and passing on messages to their fellow class mates following school council meetings. The council is tasked with sharing school and community events with their classes alongside creating their own fundraising activities to have during the year. We are proud of our links with Bexley Food Bank, Bexley Deaf Centre, NSPCC, local hospices and residential care homes.
The school council are also involved in sharing key messages throughout the year from anti-bullying weeks and activities, they complete self- and class reflection of playtimes, kindness, activities available etc. The subject of how we are kept safe in school is also discussed throughout the year during council meetings.
Sports Council
At Danson we have a Sports Council for the children to have a pupil voice and help discuss all matters school sport. The council meets up termly and has one representative from each class across the school.
The main focus of the school sports council is to look at the key areas of. Physical Education, Physical Activity and School Sports. Children will also speak with classes and look at improvements the school could make using sports premium funds.
Children were selected by an election process by each class the sports councillor wear badges throughout the school and encourage children to be active during break times and lunchtimes and where possible join the after school sports clubs.
This year children will be asked to assist with the purchasing of equipment for playtimes and lunchtimes. Children will be leaders in active minutes assisting teachers with any equipment needed for the sessions. We will be asking KS2 children to input for any sports newsletters and school match reports. The Sports council will also help decide After School Sports Clubs taking place this year giving the children opportunities to take part in the Sports clubs they want.
Eco Council
The Danson Eco Council is a group of children who meet each month to discuss eco-friendly and environmental issues within the school. By doing this, we are preparing the children to live their future lives with consideration for the environment and global issues. There is one eco councillor from each Year group. We have an Eco Council to ensure that each class has a platform to voice their opinions and to discuss and raise issues which are related to the environment.
We begin each year by meeting with the Eco Council and discussing what concerns they have and how we could potentially address them. Following on from this, the eco council representatives will complete a review within their year group to find out our schools successes and areas for improvement. We will then use this to create an action plan for the upcoming year. Throughout the year, each Eco Councillor meets with their class to discuss ideas and changes and improvements to the school as a whole.