Pupil Leadership

At Yarrells, there are so many opportunities for children to lead. It is important to us that pupil leadership is not merely the wearing of a badge or the carrying of a title, but that along with the privilege of leadership comes a clear set of responsibilities that add value to and enhance the lives of those in the school community.

Our children participate actively in the life of the school and our young leaders have a say, whether they are on the Eco-Action Team, one of the five pupil committees, or are Form Captains, House Captains, Sports Captains, Music or Drama Captains or Buddy Mentors. We are very proud of the way the ‘pupil voice’ is encouraged at Yarrells.

Pupils have the opportunity to be involved in all sorts of decision making and recent examples include new uniform, charities & fundraising activities, community days, eco-action and opportunities to bid to the PTA for various school projects.

Yarrells Parliament

Children in Years 1-6 can put themselves forward to sit on one of our pupil committees. These are each led by three Year 6 pupils: a Chair and two Vice Chairs who are selected via an application process and chosen by the Head. The committees meet twice a term and then all join together for a full Yarrells Parliament meeting once a term. There are five pupil committees:

Environment

Health and safety

Inclusion and diversity

Learning and resources

Well-being

Recent initiatives that have been brought to, and passed by the Yarrells Parliament (presided over by the Head and Chair of the Advisory Governing Body) have included:

Environment Day, with new wormeries and composting areas built by the school

Inclusion and Diversity Day, with drumming workshops and inclusion initiatives set up in our community

New play equipment bought for break-times

Solar panels cost-benefit analysis

‘Wellbeing Wednesdays’ introduced and run by the pupils

School Captains and Vice-Captains:

These are chosen from pupils in Year 6 by the staff and change termly.

There are two school captains and two vice captains elected each term. They meet with the Head weekly, represent the school at significant events such as Open Days, Prize-Giving and the school drama performances; they help younger pupils and, with the Head, look at ways to improve the day-to-day running of Yarrells.

Pupil librarians: chosen from Year 5 - remain in post throughout the year.