PUPIL VOICE

Pupil Attitudes to Self and School (PASS) Survey
The school conducts an annual PASS Survey.  PASS is an all-age survey for pupils aged 4-18+ years. It is widely used across both primary and secondary schools by school leaders, teachers, special needs coordinators (SENCO) and educational psychologists.

Almost 2 million PASS assessments have been completed over the last 5 years.

What does PASS do?
Uncovers emotional or attitudinal problems (such as low self-regard or attitudes to attendance) likely to hinder achievement at school.

Why use PASS?
PASS was established by educational psychologists and standardised on 600,000 children, so the results are statistically reliable in measuring highly subjective and sensitive issues.

What does PASS tell you?
Where there are potential, or actual, risks of disengagement in children, graded according to a simple traffic light system, and measured against national benchmarks. Green, yellow, amber and red flags provide an instant visual indication of problems and their severity.

How is PASS used?
It’s a short self-evaluation digital survey which takes just 20 minutes. Pupils are asked to respond to a series of statements about learning and school, corresponding to these nine standardised factors proven to be significantly linked to educational goals.
 
YOUNG PEOPLE’S PARLIAMENT
The Handsworth Young People’s Parliament is an initiative for children from over 20 local schools.  The Parliament encourages young people to become active citizens within their local communities by enabling their opinions on important issues to be heard.  Initiatives such as this are a key part in engaging young people, encouraging their development and giving them a way to feel that they can engage and be involved in the political world.  A key part of the programme is a visit to the Houses of Parliament where children can observe democracy in action!
 
SCHOOL COUNCIL
The school council is an elected body which meets regularly to discuss matters of direct concern to pupils and school.  It consists of a pupil member from each class who has been democratically decided upon to represent the children in his or her class.

At the start of the academic year nominations are received from prospective candidates.  Pupils can either self-nominate or be nominated by their peers.  They are then expected to present their manifesto to the class and an election process takes place.  Those elected are presented with a school council badge in a special assembly.

The council meets on a regular basis during school hours with a member of the school management team. Any constructive ideas or concerns which pupils of our school community may have can be mooted through the voice of the school council.

The school council is a very powerful and dynamic force for change and we at William Murdoch are very proud of the mature manner with which it goes about its business.

Once elected, school councillors must maintain an extremely high standard of work and conduct as they are role models for the rest of the school.  Failure to meet these high standards may result in the suspension or cancellation of their school councillor privileges.  Thus, children learn about the skills needed for life in modern British society.  

If you are a pupil here at William Murdoch Primary School and have any views or suggestions concerning the way we undertake our communal life here, please don’t hesitate to inform your class school council representative so the matter can be raised in the next meeting.

Debating
Teaching our children that they can agree to disagree is important.  Pupils are taught debating skills through the English Speaking Union’s Discover Debating programme.  The programme has helped create a sustainable debating culture and has helped to support oracy across the school.   

Sport Leaders
Each year we choose sixteen Year 6 pupils who have shown signs of developing positive leadership qualities to be trained as Sport Leaders. These pupils complete a days training run by our long-term partners, Aspire Sports, which secures them a qualification which remains with them until they leave secondary school. Once the training has been completed, our Sport Leaders then run fun and engaging games and activities for other pupils at lunchtimes, as well as undertake other duties such as helping to co-ordinate Sports Day. Being a Sport Leader at William Murdoch Primary School is a privilege and the pupils selected quickly become positive role models for their peers. For the Sport Leaders themselves it is a wonderful opportunity to further develop their social and leadership skills which stands them in good stead for the next stage of their education.

Playtime/Lunchtime Monitors
Pupils are given a range of responsibilities both during playtime and at lunchtime.  Responsibilities include managing the distribution and collection of play equipment, litter picking, monitoring entry and exit of pupils, walking younger children to and from the dining hall etc.  It is pleasing to see so many monitors take ownership of their responsibility and work together with the other monitors to ensure all the duties are being delivered effectively.  Monitors will meet regularly with the member of staff in charge to discuss any problems and develop ways to improve.  

Librarians
The school has a comprehensive library facility.  The running of the library is supported by a number of pupils who have been trained as librarians.  They support pupils in taking out and returning books, liaise with teachers to source books related to a given subject, keep the library tidy and indexed, stamp new books etc.  Librarians understand the nature of their responsibility and respond accordingly, discussing any issues with the English Lead as appropriate.  

House Point Monitors
The school runs a House Point system to support the school’s behaviour and rewards programme.  Children are awarded house points for either exceptional work or excellent behaviour.  House Point monitors will liaise with the office and collate all the house points awarded in each individual class.  These are then shared by the Deputy Headteacher in Good Work assembly.  

Door Monitors
Year 6 pupils are appointed as door monitors to man and monitor the doors to ease the movement of pupils into and out of the school hall during assembly times. They help maintain silence in the corridors and liaise with staff as required.