At the start of the Spring term a wish list was devised of topics that tutor groups wanted to bring to the school council’s attention. Tutor groups were asked to put forward at least 3 ideas. Some topics raised were pertinent to particular year groups. An overall commonality that students across all year groups shared was their desire to discuss the food provision in Purple Diner. Our students love to talk about food! Students wanted to raise the issue of costs, selection choices, portion sizes, repetitive menus, overcrowding in Purple Diner, too many rice dishes and better value for money options, to name but a few. Council members would like to meet with Purple Diner staff to discuss these issues and to submit their own suggestions for improvements.
The following are some of the topics raised –
Year7 –Better solutions to medical problems; lockers; after school socials; clocks in every classroom; introduction of student monitors; year rota to use the astroturf; removing chewing gum under tables; review of referral system to ensure changes in students’ behaviour.
Year 8– FSM students to be able to use their allowance at break; more trips; inconsistency of referrals; continuation of ‘Star Reader’; broken furniture attended to.
Year 9 – Reduction of plastic water bottles sold by the Diner; accessible taps to fill up water bottles around school; more glue sticks; more rewards and trips; repairs to broken toilets/locks; toilet bins emptied more frequently; newer computers; more material in Art and Textiles.
Year 10– Lockers; enterprise days; frequent set changes in Science and RE; soap in the toilets; trainers instead of shoes; not having all TRAR assessments in one week, raising awareness on mental health.
Year 11 –Head boy/girl appointments; being allowed off site at lunch; continuation of trips, rewards for student, not just certificates.
Some council members met with members of the Aldridge Trust on Thursday 7th March. They felt that they represented the school council positively and shared a lot of their ideas and previous discussions. “It was really good – we had so much to talk about. They were really interested in what we had to say!” (Nana Agyeman Bediako).
Students were concerned to hear about Cyclone Idai striking Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi causing destruction and mayhem and wanted to collect donations for the charity’s relief fund. By visiting tutors groups over two days, they raised the sum of £140.59. Thank you to the school community for your generosity.
Ms Thompson
