School Council
Our School Council is made up of children in Years 2–6. All children are invited to stand for election at the beginning of the academic year, and each class elects a representative following a democratic process. The School Council listens to their classmates’ ideas and discusses ways of improving aspects of school life and the local community with members of staff and the headteacher.
So why do we have a School Council? Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) says that children and young people should have a say in decisions that affect their lives. A School Council can provide a meaningful way in which pupils can voice their opinions and have their views taken into account in decisions that impact upon them, as well as helping to improve many aspects of school life. It is also an important and useful way to provide leadership and development opportunities for our pupils, as well as teaching them about democracy, local and global citizenship and accountability.
Our School Council has been involved in a variety of projects that have enhanced the school and the local community, including setting up a playground buddy scheme, litter picking in the local community and raising money for charity.
Eco Committee
At Alban City School, we are proud to be part of the Eco Schools initiative. https://www.eco-schools.org.uk/ We have achieved the Silver Award and are working towards the Green Flag Award. Children in Years 2-6 can apply to represent their class at the Eco Schools Committee. The Committee meets regularly to discuss issues that have arisen within our school, the community or larger projects. This year we have made connections with the local church. We have visited regularly to contribute to the gardens through litter picking, looking after wildlife and gardening. We are working on developing our outside area by creating planters, with the theme of the different continents. Previous contributions to changes around our school have included projects on lighting, food wastage and pollution and each year we participate in the Sustainable St Albans week.
Sports Leaders
In Year 6, pupils can apply to be a Sports Leader. The Sports Leaders work together as a team to support and develop the sports provision at Alban City School and have several main responsibilities. Every Friday lunchtime a group of them spend 20 minutes of the lunch break in the hall with some children from the Reception classes to lead many activities such as games with the parachute, running games and a few stations to develop their aim, control and coordination. Another role they take on is helping to organise key sporting events like Sports Day, sports festivals and some fun sporting activities for the other children. The Sports Leaders act as role models to the younger children and help them to engage them in sport and physical activity at Alban City School, while also developing their leadership skills in preparation for secondary school and beyond.
Technology Leaders
Year 6 pupils can also apply to be a Technology Leader. They have responsibility for helping to look after our IT equipment and resources, supporting younger children to use technology safely and appropriately, and working with our Computing Lead to develop the use of technology to enhance their learning within and outside of school.
School Trips
We value the importance of off-site visits and ensure we include trips to enrich the children’s learning experiences throughout the year. Recent school trips have been to Whipsnade Zoo, Paradise Wildlife Park, The British Museum, Celtic Harmony, Kew Gardens, The Royal Festival Hall and Verulamium Museum. In December we also take the whole school to watch the Pantomime at the Alban Arena.
One of the highlights of the year for our Year 6 children is their residential trip. This is usually scheduled for the summer term and the children spend a few nights away from home challenging themselves by participating in a variety of outdoor and adventurous activities.
We are fortunate to be in the centre of St Albans and we make the most of our city centre location by taking the children on local visits such as to the St Albans Museum, market, places of worship, library, fire station and war memorial.
We also work in partnership with other schools in our local area to enhance our curriculum. Recently our children have benefitted from attending specialist Science, STEM, Maths, Drama, Music and Art workshops at local secondary schools.
Visitors
We warmly welcome and encourage visitors to school to enhance the children’s learning and experiences. These are often linked to a particular curriculum area such as history themed days, STEM workshops, faith leaders and language days.
We also often invite visitors into our assemblies. We aim to share the experiences of a wide variety of visitors from different faiths, backgrounds, cultures and occupations with the children to help widen their knowledge and inspire their aspirations for the future.
Volunteers are always welcomed to help the children with their reading or other aspects of the curriculum and to help supervise the children on trips. In addition to parent and grandparent volunteers, we are lucky enough to welcome volunteers from the Sixth Form at St Albans Boys School once a week to support the children’s learning and act as role models.
Please get in touch if you would like to volunteer on a regular basis or visit our school to support the children’s learning and enrich their experiences.
- Clubs Autumn 2024 (155.19KB)