Student Voice

There are harmonious relationships between students of all ethnic heritages and their awareness of different cultures is good.

- Ofsted, Nov 2008

At present the structure for student voice is that each tutor group has one or two student representatives and these students represent their tutor group on their Community Council.

This means that each Community Council has up to eighteen student members. Also three students from each Community Council also represent their community on Whole School Council; there is also one member of each Learning to Lead team on Whole School Council.

At Royds Hall High School we believe that vertical tutoring encourages engagement and conversations between students and their peers, as well as between students and adults. This means that all voices are being listened to and then Royds Hall as an organisation can respond.

We believe that our councils are effective since:

All pupils in the school are involved in the councils
It is pupil-led
It is part of the school’s ethos and practice
It deals with the core issues of the school
It makes a difference

We believe that our effective councils result in the following benefits:

Higher attainment
Reduction in pupil exclusions
Citizenship awareness
Improved relationships between pupils
Improved relationships between pupils and teachers
Better attendance
Reduction in bullying
Improved skills (communication, negotiation, decision-making, teamwork)
More trust
Pupils have pride in themselves and their school
Improved physical environment
More effective and respected school policies
Responsible behaviour

Learning to Lead

The school is also involved in a national pilot called 'Learning to Lead'. Students have completed an online questionnaire to find out their views about what they would like to improve in school. As a result of these we now have 5 learning to lead teams:

ECO
Learning
Rewards and Sanctions
Toliet team
RHTV

One member of each Learning to Lead team also sits on the Whole School council.