School Council

Hello and welcome to the school council’s part of the website. In case you don’t know, we are a group of students voted in by our classmates. Each year group has two representatives, we discuss school matters that effect us young people. In the past we have made some big changes, like the school uniform, which use to include a shirt.

If you would like to have a look around then please do so. If you want to find out who your year or school rep. is then you are in the right place. Or maybe you want to know about what the school council have been doing - then just look at our latest minutes. There is a lot here so why not have a look around.....

A councillor, once elected will be on the School Council for one year (Autumn half-term to Autumn half-term).
Elections will be held during the first half of the Autumn term.
Two councillors will be elected from each Year group (apart from Years 12 and 13 who will be jointly represented by two councillors). One (at least) must be a member of their Year Council.
Pupils can stand for election to be councillors as often as they want while they are part of the school.
Up to 8 other councillors can be co-opted from other organisations such as Youth Town Council, UK Youth Parliament, etc.

The Chairperson, Secretary and other officers will be elected by the councillors.
All decisions taken at School Council meetings shall be by a show of hands with votes for, against and abstentions recorded.
If a vote is a tie, the Chairperson will have the deciding vote.
The link teachers and co-opted members are not allowed to vote in School Council meetings.
Five elected members, including the Chairperson or Vice Chairperson, will constitute a quorum.

The councillors will treat with politeness any visitors to the meeting.
Councillors will always be punctual to meetings and other organised events. They will attend all appropriate meetings or send their apologies. Councillors must be reliable. In certain circumstances retrospective apologies may be accepted at the discretion of the Chairperson.
A councillor may be suspended from the School Council if their behaviour in school, particularly at School Council meetings, becomes a problem. Persistent offenders may be voted off by the members.

School Council meetings will be held at least every half term, and as often as necessary.
The Chairperson is in charge of the School Council meeting and has the right to silence people or remove them from the meeting if they are behaving badly.
The agenda will be decided in advance by the Chairperson, the Secretary and others who the Chairperson chooses.
As much advanced warning as possible of a meeting and agenda will be given.
Minutes will be taken at every School Council meeting and every decision made will be carefully written down.
The School Council will invite an appropriate range of people to meetings to help the councillors make the best decisions.
The School Council must make sure that all people likely to be affected by a decision are informed first and have a chance to comment.
Initially, for an interim period, two Link Teachers will join the council for guidance and support. This will be reviewed at the first Annual General Meeting of the council.
The Link Teachers will have the right to advice the School Council over any issues that they believe are not appropriate for discussion.

The School Council will have a notice board in a prominent place in the school.
The upkeep of this notice board will be the responsibility of the Secretary.
Views must be sought from Form Representatives on Year Councils.
The School Council will have access to and make full use of all other communication methods within St Ivo School when appropriate, including:
- Intranet/internet – with own web pages/area;
- Plasma screen in reception;
- The termly newsletter;
- Assemblies and
- Parents events – induction, open and parents’/carers' evenings.

The School Council fully supports the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and will always try to address issues which threaten or violate these rights.
The School Council will have a responsibility to help the school become more environmentally friendly.
The School Council will have its own account and spend money as it chooses.
The School Council will have the responsibility to make sure that the school buys products from companies that have a good record on human rights and the environment.
All members of the school will be informed of the decision the School Council has taken.
The School Council is not a forum for discussion of individuals/individual incidents/issues regarding staff or students. There are alternative courses to address these issues.

Click on a date for the minutes of that school council meeting (PDF documents).