WAINSCOTT PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPIL PARLIAMENT

At Wainscott Primary School we believe that children and young people need to be active participants in their own education and to feel that their opinions will be heard. We seek ways to listen to the views of our pupils and involve them in decision-making so that they are engaged as partners in the life of the school. The Pupil Parliament is being set up to develop the ways in which pupils can make a positive contribution to the school environment and ethos but also broaden the experiences and wider development of our young people.

Pupil Parliament will:

Be a positive forum

Provide an opportunity for all pupils to be heard

Provide a forum for the leadership of the school to listen to the pupil’s opinions

Aid communication throughout the school

Build the pupils confidence and self-esteem

Encourage the pupils to be active citizens

Provide all pupils with a democratic model

The children vote for a representative in each class by holding a ballot at the start of the year, the then elected Pupil Parliament ministers hold that post for the whole school year.

Pupil Parliament meet regularly to discuss topical and school-based issues. They work with our pupils, staff, parents, governors and wider community to support the school ethos, to improve the achievements and successes of our school and to make the school a happier place for all.

The elected ministers from each class form cabinets- Environment, Health and Wellbeing, Curriculum and Sport.  Each of these committees is designed to have a specific focus on improving Wainscott Primary School.  Our class ministers also receive training from: https://learning.parliament.uk/en/

Pupil Parliament also play a pivotal role in seasonal charity work such as : Harvest, Remembrance Day and Sport Relief to name but a few.

As individuals, our pupils bring lots of additional skills and abilities to this role in particular, however to be a successful Pupil Parliament Minister they need to:

Be reliable

Be proud of our school and want our school to be the best it can be

Listen carefully to the views of others and take their ideas on board.

Represent the majority view of your class, even if you don't agree!

Commit time to this role and accept that you may need to do things during break times and/or lunchtimes.

Be enthusiastic

Be kind and respectful

Be patient

Pupil Parliament 2023-24

One of the many tasks Pupil Parliament have undertaken this academic year is working alongside Chartwells. Following the whole school Healthy Eating Workshops, they applied their knowledge to devise a healthy menu which will be served on May 9th 2024.

Additionally, Samantha in Year 6 suggested spice sachets to further enhance the flavour of school meals-a very well written persuasive letter as well as a petition has ensured that spice shakers will now be available at the serving hatch at lunchtime. Great job Samantha !

Partnering With The Climate Response Team and Medway Norse

Wainscott Primary School have partnered with the Climate Response Team and Medway Norse to plant over 250 whips to create a new mixed native hedge. The hedge will capture air particulates, absorb carbon, and provide a habitat for local wildlife. Pupil Parliament played an active role in the planting. 

Click on the link below to find out more.

Environment and Climate Change Medway

Pupil Parliament Healthy Eating Menu

As part of Healthy Eating week here at Wainscott, children from across the school participated in healthy eating workshops delivered by Louise from Chartwells. The youngest pupils benefitting from eating their ‘Hungry Caterpillar’ artwork and deciding if the caterpillar made healthy choices to 'Rainbow Stir Fry' workshops for our oldest pupils allowing them to think carefully about a balanced diet which included their 5 a day. This latter workshop was so popular that the children requested a copy of the recipe so that they could prepare this tasty and healthy dish at home.

Following this, Pupil Parliament met with Louise from Chartwells to put together a bespoke healthy eating menu applying the knowledge gained by attending the workshops. This menu has now been approved and will be on offer for all children during lunchtime on April 25th 2023. Great job Pupil Parliament !

Pupil Parliament Meet With Louise from Chartwells

 Pupil Parliament met with Louise the Schools Participation Manager from Chartwells to discuss the current school lunch menu. These are the findings of a very mature discussion had between Louise and Pupil Parliament.

There were a number of children who only have school dinners a couple of days a week rather than daily and a handful who do not have school dinners at all.

When asked why they do not have school dinners more regularly the children said: I am a fussy eater.

Louise said:  We will be providing certificates to hand out to pupils to encourage children to try new foods.

The children said: I don’t like the menu choices on certain days. 

Louise said she would be happy to make some changes to the menu with dishes that we think might be more popular. 

Regarding the new menu: The children’s feedback on the new menu was largely positive.

The children said : their favourite meals on the menu are roast gammon, pizza, the chicken noodles, ice cream and the milkshakes. Their least favourite meals are the beef lasagne, the vegetable pie and the orange shortbread.  

Louise said: I am happy to use the menu selector to make some changes.

The children said :dishes that they would like to see on the menu and/or dishes that they like to eat at home include burgers, chicken nuggets, noodles, curry, sausages and mash and roast dinner. 

Louise said : we do already have noodles of course roast dinner on the menu and although not chicken nuggets we do have the Southern Fried Chicken on a Friday. We can include sausages and mash as well as curries and burgers often future on our theme day menus including in January for census day.

When asked if there was anything we could do to make school dinners better.

The children said: larger portions. 

Louise said: I reminded the children of the daily bread and salad available to them to supplement their main meal.

Thank you Pupil Parliament- great feedback and looking forward to seeing these changes in January. See below the updated menu.

Delivering Festive Letters

As is the custom here at Wainscott, each class in the school wrote a letter to the residents of Montgomery Court to spread a little festive cheer. Pupil Parliament delivered these letters this week. As the residents were having a coffee morning, the children read the letters to them. Happy Christmas from the pupils at Wainscott Primary School.

Sky Skills Trip July 2022

Pupil Parliament visited Sky Skills Studios on Wednesday July 20th to take part in an exciting educational experience at Sky’s headquarters in Osterley, West London.

The children were given the opportunity to make their very own TV report based on Social Networking. Social Networking explored the benefits and disadvantages of social media in today’s world. Pupil Parliament discussed the different uses of social media, how to responsibly use it, and shared ideas on how to prevent cyberbullying; these messages can be cascaded across the rest of the school upon their return in the form of an assembly.

They children got to work with amazing technology, including green screens, broadcast quality cameras and bespoke touch screen edit tables. The day included: a behind the scenes tour of Sky Studios, a hands-on learning experience creating their own TV report, a chance to work with experts and cutting-edge technology and a USB wristband on which they could watch their final report.

The trip has certainly inspired the children who are now very excited about a potential future career in television as either scriptwriter, producer, editor, director, or reporter.  It also gave the children a chance to develop their oracy skills as this is an essential feature of communication and news reporting. 

We are very much looking forward to seeing their news report in the first assembly of the next academic year. Such an important message around the benefits and disadvantages of social networking delivered by the children themselves will prove powerful. 

Want to watch the completed news report?

Sky Skills Pupil Parliament Social Networking

Term 3 January 2022

Pupil Parliament have been working hard on a number of different initiatives and met with governors at the end of last term to communicate these. Their latest project was to put together a child friendly Safeguarding Policy which is now published on the school website.

Child Friendly Safeguarding Policy

Term 2 December 2021

Last year Wainscott School took part in the TES Classrooms To Care homes initiative. This year we decided that rather than all children writing an individual letter- a letter was written from the whole class. This was a great opportunity for shared writing as well as recapping the features of a letter. 

Pupil Parliament members, Harry and Ryan delivered these letters today and were fortunate enough to meet one of the residents as well as Amanda the manager of Montgomery Court. We really hope that these letters spread some festive cheer to those who find themselves alone at Christmas.

Term 1 October 2021

Pupil Parliament have been busy wondering once again how we, as a school, can support the local community. They put together posters to encourage donations to school which could be collected and sent to Medway Food Bank. Last week these donations were delivered to Medway Food Bank.

We don’t think anyone in our community should have to face going hungry. That’s why we provide three days’ nutritionally balanced emergency food and support to local people who are referred to us in crisis. We are part of a nationwide network of foodbanks, supported by The Trussell Trust, working to combat poverty and hunger across the UK.

To find out more about Medway Food Bank please click the link below:

Medway Food Bank

Term 6- School Dinners Discussion and Feedback

Key Stage 2 Pupil Parliament ministers met with Louise to discuss school dinners.

Questions such as:

Did they like school dinners?

If they didn't have school dinners, why not?

What their most and least favourite meals were at school?

Which meals they enjoyed at home which they would like to see feature on the menu?

Any suggestions on how school meals could be improved?

A lively discussion in which all pupils had a voice. I think they were surprised about the variety of food already on offer and gave constructive feedback around improvements particularly when it came to the topic of pizza bases and baguettes.

Louise will now collate all this information and feed it back to Chartwells- I wonder what changes we might see in September as a result of this?

Term 5- School Uniform Policy

As things slowly return to normal- Pupil Parliament are working hard on the school uniform policy here at Wainscott Primary School. We are still in the early stages but watch out for the new policy which will published on the website once approved.

LATEST NEWS....

Wainscott Primary School, part of The Primary First Trust, have been busy throughout December, supporting local residents of Montgomery Court care home, and others across the community, while also finding time to fit in some celebrations of their own.

Despite the challenging year we have all had, each pupil at Wainscott wrote letters to the residents of Montgomery Court, which backs on to the school, to share festive cheer and brighten the days of the older community, who have faced a more challenging year than most. Not only has this allowed the pupils to connect with the local community but has also provided a real purpose and audience for the children's letter writing.

The school have also received the brilliant news that they have won an award from the Classrooms to Care Homes project, for their work on the letter writing project for Montgomery Court care home, and have been sent a prize, a joke book, which pupils will be able to enjoy.

Two members of the School’s Pupil Parliament delivered the letters to the care home, to ensure the residents received their letters in time for Christmas. The school’s Pupil Parliament also recently received some special training through UK Parliament Education, which went details about how Government works. This workshop inspired one of the children to write to local MP, Kelly Tolhurst, to request a zebra crossing outside the school, to enhance the safety of the pupils travelling to and from school.

Wainscott Pupil Parliament features in The Headteacher Magazine, August 16th 2021. Click on the link to read the article.

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