Student Voice
Statement:
At Newhaven School we are committed to listening to the views, wishes and experiences of all our young people. We place value on what our young people tell school staff about their experiences. Meaningful opportunities are provided to our students to share their experiences, opinions and hopes about their school.
Students at Newhaven are provided with a space that is safe and an awareness of how important it is for them to express their views, especially when contributing to the development of their school.
Our Student Voice enables students to improve and enhance skills in leadership and decision making. One such example is that of Student Voice positively contributing to the new curriculum offer in the Sixth Form. Students are advocates for their peers whilst learning how to resolve conflicts and propose solutions to improve their overall school experience.
By valuing the opinions of our young people and involving them in decision making processes we create a community that is caring and teaches them the skills they need to become successful adults.
Aims of student voice:
- To make the school a better place to learn
- To improve connectivity and support for students well-being
- To enhance physical health and fitness by improving the school’s sports facilities
Student Voice members:
Our student voice consists of young people from across all year groups at Newhaven School.
Gardens:
1 representative for Year 10
4 representatives for Year 11
NEST:
1 representative for Year 9
2 representatives for Year 10
1 representative for Year 11
King’s Park:
1 representative for Year 8
1 representative for Year 9
2 representatives for Year 10
1 representative for Year 11
Student Voice meetings:
We aim to meet once a half-term to share with the members of student voice, issues or requests that have been raised by our fellow peers. In addition to discussing suggestions put forward by others, we also, look at our school policies with the aim to review and improve where necessary.
Following our student meeting, we then have the opportunity to meet with our Senior Leadership Team to discuss our suggestions and recommendations.
The Senior Leadership team will then share their final decisions with us, which is then reflected on our student voice display board.
We also support with the recruitment process at Newhaven by making up the student panel. This provides us with the opportunity to ask important and significant questions to candidates.
Upcoming meetings/events:
Next student voice meeting: Tuesday 23rd April- 11.30pm-12.10pm (Gardens and Nest)
Student Voice surveys:
Student Voice announcements:
After much deliberation and discussion, the student voice team finally decided on their end of term trip. Our student voice representatives decided on a bowling trip at the O2 and a meal at the infamous Jimmy’s restaurant.
The team were able to discuss and reflect on the success of student voice this year but also what ideas and big plans they had for the next academic year.
The trip also allowed for our representatives to build and develop their group relationship and understand in much greater detail why they joined student voice; what they wanted to change but more importantly, who were the better bowlers, students or teachers!
Student voice has been a great success this year and the students are looking forward to the new academic year- they also believe we may get some additional recruits due to the success of the trip!
Well done team!
