Our Student Leadership Team
When I took over running the Student Leadership Team, I began to research what other schools ‘student councils’ were doing. Could we learn anything from them? I quickly realised the Life Sciences and Studio Student Leadership Team, already does all of the things other schools are doing and more. Everything about the schools in the CUC is unique and students get a different experience to other schools- we are progressive in leading the way, so the Student Leadership Team needs to reflect this. The StLT have quickly become a driving force not afraid to tackle not only small day to day issues in school that just make school life a little bit better- the 6th Form break time trolley now has the extra milk students wanted!- but they also tackle LGBTQ rights, Feminism, opportunities for girls, issues of poverty and mental health. The Junior Leader’s main aim is to address as many issues as possible faced by students- the understanding needing to be, you may not immediately make a difference to 800 people when you create materials to be shared, but to have a student email to say ‘Thank you for sharing that, that person inspires me’, to have a family be so grateful that students created something to help them in a time of need, to have a student feel more comfortable to come into school knowing they have access to the right bathroom, to a student knowing that their school is behind them in supporting Black Lives Matter and pushing for a more representative curriculum, is what makes the difference, it is what makes it unique.
Laura Bonnesen
What have we achieved so far?
Students in the past year have met with myself and the Principal to discuss equality, the school environment and LGBTQ issues students wished to raise and had direct results, such as more keys available to transgender students to enable them to use a particular bathroom. StLT regularly create materials to promote equality and diversity across the schools, such as the past month and last October, creating daily Black History Month influential figures uploaded daily onto the school’s social media; reaching a wide audience. I was pleased with the recognition the Junior Leadership team received from the UTC’s Ofsted visit in January 2020 and the recognition of the substantial contributions they have made for charity. This is in addition to numerous smaller charities they organised support for, such as Macmillan, YPAS, Mermaids, Operation Christmas Child and food bank drives. Mental Health and Wellbeing is a pressing issue for students particularly in the current situation, and the students also have designed materials for days such as International Men’s Day, International Women’s day and delivered fitness sessions and meditation for wellness and mental wellbeing week. At Christmas, a small team of Year 12 and 13 Junior Leaders helped to collect and prepare 50 food hampers and 50 sets of gifts, including for siblings, for the families in our school community.