At a time of deep division in society, it’s more important than ever for young people to be a central part of our democracy and debate.

We believe that every young person’s voice should be heard. Because everyone’s voice is important.

"Overall, we think that nothing at school needs improving right now and we feel happy, safe and proud to be Hillcrest pupils. 

We are happy that the outdoor learning areas are being improved already because this makes us feel heard."  - Pupil, Year 5.

Each half term, our School Council Representatives (democratically voted for at the beginning of each school year in Class Elections) lead their class through a meeting where a question has been posed to them.  In groups, pupils debate and come to a decision on what their answer is to be.  The School Council Representative makes sure things run smoothly and everyone respects all viewpoints. 

Here are some of our highlights from School Council 2024 - 2025:

Autumn 1:

School councillors spoke to their classes for the first time to gain views on what could be improved in school. The majority of children wanted more FOUR SQUARE opportunities on the playground. The School Council spoke to Mr Dunne, our caretaker, and he kindly painted 5 more areas - this went down very well with the children!

Autumn 2:

School councillors were asked to represent Hillcrest Primary School at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Lidl supermarket on the Bexwell roundabout in December 2024. We were very proud of our councillors!

 

Spring 1:

The School councillors turned their attention to supporting the libraries and the librarians. In January, we looked at the library suggestion boxes to see which types of books children would like in their libraries - it was very unanimous: Graphic Novels and Sport Books!

Spring 2:

In Spring 2, we invited our PTA, Friends of Hillcrest, to join our school council meeting. The school councillors would like to put on an event to continue raising money for the school libraries. After much deliberating, we decided on a "Break the Rules!" day, where children voluntarily donated 50p for every rule they broke - up to 5 rules! Some rules included: No crazy hairstyles, Uniform must be worn, No squash or juice. It was a fantastic day and we raised £563!

Summer 1:

In the summer, we welcomed our new catering company - "The Lunchtime Company" - to Hillcrest. The school councillors were specially invited to a menu food-tasting session to tell the new company which dishes would be most popular. It was a great session and you can see their choices in the menu today!

Summer 2:

As our last half-term dawned, the school councillors were determined to campaign about safety at school. Too many children were riding their scooters and bikes on the playground before and after school, which could potentially cause accidents. The councillors created posters and designed powerpoints, which they then presented in KS1 and KS2 assembly. It was well received, and we saw an immediate reduction in children riding on site. In addition, we spoke about using mobile phones, uniform and being on time to school.

What a fantastic year for the school councillors! Well done!