Ethos Network Roadshow

"Pupil Participation" - Trinity Academy - Friday 2001

"Pupil Participation" - Trinity Academy, Friday 26th January 2001

Report by John Burton

Trinity Academy gave all the delegates a great welcome. We were played in by a string trio, who entertained us as we registered. Along with coffee and biscuits this set the day off to a good start. I went along with two pupils and one of the teachers from Stockbridge and we all registered for the same workshops, more of them later.

After registration we were formally welcomed by the Principal of Trinity, and in a very interesting speech he described the ethos of their school. The CAPE initiative (Creating A Positive Environment) is a process which involves pupils and staff in considering the overall environment, and regular meetings are held to discuss how to take it forward, eg CAPE Good Fridays are monthly for the Staff.

Professor Pamela Munn, Director, Ethos Programme, and Councillor Paul Williamson, Executive Member for Education, Edinburgh City Council, also welcomed us to the event. Cllr. Williamson spoke of the Council’s commitment to the principle of Pupil Participation, mentioning specifically a proposal for a Young Person Commissioner as part of the council Executive who would ensure that the voice of young people would be considered as part of the decision making process.

The Youth Task Force gave a very confident presentation called ‘Giving People a Voice’. Their message was overtly political, proposing a Youth Council for Edinburgh with proper funding and powers. They also highlighted the existing Scottish Youth Parliament and urged children to become involved with this.

This was followed by an interesting and provocative, but not very child-friendly, presentation by Dr. Julie Allan, Stirling University. Dr. Allan’s presentation ‘Children’s Voices on Learning, Achievement and Inclusion’ was built around: Research on Children’s Learning for Stirling Council; Actively Seeking Inclusion: Research with Disabled Children and their Mainstream Peers; and Summerhill School’s High Court Tribunal. The main Body of the presentation discussed the empowerment of the pupils at Summerhill, and how they had even called a meeting during the Tribunal - inviting QC’s to join them and eventually brokered the settlement. The school was not presented as a model of best practice, as it is obviously a very specific case, but Dr. Allan was using it to emphasise how seriously the principle of Pupil Participation can be taken.

After a welcome coffee break we went on to the first of our chosen workshops. Granton Primary School from Edinburgh presented ‘Change the environment change the ethos’. The Headteacher (John Burns) and five pupils described the substantial changes that have taken place at the school. Two major projects were presented: an all school arts project which brought about changes to the fabric of the school, and the major changes to the playground, which amongst other things involved the planting of a woodland!

During lunch we were entertained by a Jazz Band, and could investigate a number of displays on projects relating to Pupil Participation in Trinity Academy, and from all the other contributors to the roadshow.

Lunch was followed by a presentation by children of Craigentinny Primary School, Edinburgh; ‘Peacebuilders: Children acting as Peace Coaches’. PeaceBuilders is a long-term, community-based, violence/crime prevention programme for primary schools developed in the USA and Australia. The Anti-Bullying Network is supporting a trial of this programme at Craigentinny Primary School. The school’s Depute Head, Moira Heatly, described the work. Children from the school helped by explaining the 5 carefully worded behavioural guidelines which are at the heart of PeaceBuilders:

• Praise People
• Give up put downs
• Seek wise People
• Notice hurts
• Right wrongs

The second workshop we attended was by Save the Children, Scotland; ‘Listening to young people: an essential element of participation’. The workshop offered ideas to make consultation with pupils and getting pupils to consult each other a practical reality rather than an idealistic aspiration. The main emphasis was to show that there are lots of fun ways to consult pupils which also have important learning outcomes for all involved.

The roadshow was topped off with a lively debate; "Pupil Participation is all Talk and no Action", with the Youth Task Force students. After some more extremely confident and passionate speeches about the lack of adequate funding for Student Councils the motion was quite emphatically defeated, indicating that Pupil Participation is alive and kicking, and here to stay!