Pupil Leadership

At Rushall Primary school we believe it is crucial for children to develop leadership skills as part of their journey with us. This enables children to become good citizens both as part of our school community and within the wider world.

Developing pupils as leaders support the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) https://www.unicef.org/media/56661/file.

We have chosen the following articles from the Convention but all of the articles are interconnected:

 All children have all these rights, no matter who they are, where they live, what language they speak, what their religion is, what they think, what they look like, if they are a boy or girl, if they have a disability, if they are rich or poor, and no matter who their parents or families are or what their parents or families believe or do. No child should be treated unfairly for any reason.

 When adults make decisions, they should think about how their decisions will affect children. All adults should do what is best for children. Governments should make sure children are protected and looked after by their parents, or by other people when this is needed. Governments should make sure that people and places responsible for looking after children are doing a good job.

Governments must do all they can to make sure that every child in their countries can enjoy all the rights in this Convention.

Children have the right to give their opinions freely on issues that affect them. Adults should listen and take children seriously.

Children have the right to share freely with others what they learn, think and feel, by talking, drawing, writing or in any other way unless it harms other people. At the start of the new academic year, all children learn about the qualities of a good leader and discuss the roles available to them. Throughout the year we return to this theme by learning about a wide variety of leaders at every level of society.

Children can join or set up groups or organisations, and they can meet with others, as long as this does not harm other people.

There are many ways in which leadership qualities are developed in our pupils. All our pupils have at least one role in school that will help to ensure that our school day runs efficiently. Some roles may have a whole school or wider community focus. Pupils are appointed to class based roles including ‘Tidy-Up Inspectors’, ‘House Point Heroes’ and ‘Equipment helpers’. Whole school opportunities exist for all ages in Worship Council. Older children may have school-wide roles such as  Playtime Sports Leaders. There is a rota of ‘Lunchtime Monitors’ who assist lunchtime staff with setting up, clearing away and helping younger children. These types of roles can have a big impact on children’s behaviour and engagement as well as supporting our school values of respect, kindness and togetherness. Our School Tour Guides act as ambassadors for the school whilst developing their communication skills by showing prospective parents and other visitors around our buildings and grounds.

On occasion there may be an opportunity for children to apply for roles such as our ‘Charity of the Year’ leaders. This may involve preparing a presentation or completing an application form and presenting to their class or whole school. An understanding of democracy is then developed as children may be asked to vote. These key roles are ones of privilege and responsibility that require the children to be organised and dedicated. They have to set a positive example by modelling and demonstrating our school values. These wider roles may also involve working with children from other schools, feeding back to Governors or working with staff, for example.

Every child gets a ‘Leadership Passport’ when they start school with us. This is a record of all of the roles they undertake while they are at Rushall, alongside comments from staff and other pupils. At the rear of the Passport there are pages on which they can record any other significant leadership they have undertaken and link this to the ‘Practices and Commitments’.

These are: 

Children fill their leadership Passports in during the year alongside a member of staff. They can earn rewards and ultimately a pin badge once they have evidence of leadership in all areas.