We have two descriptions of the Training Day the staff and pupils went on held at Shapla School.
Shahnia's report
When we arrived at School Council UK the first thing we did was a Human Bingo. We did it so we would get to know other pupils. We had to ask a pupil which one of these things they do, and then we had to write their name on the space in the box that they do. After the Human Bingo all pupils and teachers were led to different groups. There were three different leaders for each group, there was Sem, Sarah and Ash. Some pupils went with Sarah, some with Ash, and all the teachers with Sem. We were with Sarah first.
What we did first was we introduced ourselves. We passed socks to each other and the person we passed to, we had to say their names out loud. She passed more socks and the game got harder and faster. Then after that Sarah wrote down words which come to your heads when you see or hear the word Council, and then she wrote people involved in a School Council.
Break –
In break time all the teachers and the other pupils came back into one room. Then we separated into groups again but this time with the teachers.
This time we were with Sem. First we discussed on how you bake a cake, we did this because when you’re in a meeting you need to take care of a lot of things and do a lot of things, that’s the same thing you need to do to make a cake you need to make sure of a lot of things.
Then we talked about Vision Statements. In our groups we talked about problems in our schools and how to solve it. And then after we finished we reported back to the whole class. And then the teachers did a separate thing and we had a game. What we had to do was each wall was a different object or answer. He asked us questions and we had to go to one of the walls as the answers. We had to have a reason why we chose this answer.
The reason we did this is when your young when you make decisions you always copy what your friend does. So when we have a reason it means it means we are not following are friends.
Lunch –
In lunch we chose some people to go on the panel. When we finished lunch we went in the room and the people we chose came up onto the panel. We asked them questions, they gave us good answers back. We also discussed what we did in our schools.
Then after lunch we all went back to our same groups we were in before, we were with Sem. Some pupils sat in one group, the other pupils sat in another group and all the teachers in one group. First we discussed about rules when you are having a meeting, then we discussed about what a Chair person does in their job.
Then Sem gave us problems for our groups. In our groups there was on Chair person and one person who reported back. We discussed our opinions and ideas with other pupils in our group. When Sem told us to stop one person reported back to the whole class about our decision. All other groups did the same. We had another problem. We discussed in the same way, just there was a different Chair and report person.
The teachers stayed with Sem and all the pupils went back to the group they were in first. We were with Sarah. First of all we played a game of Splat. Then we looked at pictures of people and chose a person that looked good to be in the School Council.
After what we did was we went into groups and we had to draw a person who looked good as a councillor. We went back to Sem where the teachers were and discussed what we did today and what we will do in meetings and when we will have them, and other things to do with the School Council.
Sem gave all of us a Primary Training Pack guide with all sorts of information in it. Then we went back into the room we were in first and everybody was in the room. Sarah passed on evaluation sheets to everyone. After you filled it in you could go. We gave ours and they gave a little goodie to take back with us. After that we put our coats and stuff on and went back to school.
Mahdiur's Report
The main people were called Ash, Sem and Sarah.
Next we split up in 3 groups. Adults went with Sem, some of the children went with Ash and the others stayed with Sarah. We wanted to get to know each other so we sat in a circle. We went around the group and said what our names were. Then we threw a ball to each other and had to say their names.
We then did our first session. We had to read the question on the big piece of paper and then we had to find a solution for it. When we were finished we had to circle 3 main solutions and tell the other pupils.
We then had 30 minutes break to refresh ourselves. After break we started our second session. I went with Sem, Eoin, Annika, Duncan and Shahnia. First we were discussing school councils and then the teachers had to solve a problem. Whilst they did this the children were playing a thinking game with Sem.
We ate lunch and then got ready for the next session. In session 3 we worked with the adults again. We had to make two small circles and the adults had to make a large circle. Then Sem was asking questions and he was choosing a chairperson for each group. He showed us pictures and we had to solve the problems in the picture.
Next we went back to our groups that we had been in for the first session. In that session we were looking at descriptions of children and deciding which would make a good school councillor. Then we drew the picture and described what he or she was doing. Then we met back up with the adults and decided to make an action plan for our school. Then we went upstairs and filled in our evaluation form.
That was the end of the day.