Marlborough School Parliament

Marlborough School Parliament
 
All of our pupils have a say in what happens in our school in their role as Parliament members. 

Every child at Marlborough is a member of our School Parliament.  This is designed to encourage everyone to express their opinions and involve them in making decisions about all aspects of school life.  The strong constitution agreed with the children over many years of mature debate ensures that the school’s senior leadership listens to their ideas and takes all views into account. We have won the platinum PADL (Promoting Active Democracy Loudly) award for the past two consecutive years, only one of two schools to receive this level of student voice recognition in the county.

The whole school Parliament (infants and juniors) meets at least once every half term.  The juniors meet more frequently either in a general parley where they work in small conference groups or in one of the six committees that focus on specific aspects of school life.

There are opportunities for children to elect members to serve on the representative Star Chamber council or oversee the development of ‘Pupil Policy’ on the School Cabinet. However, we believe it is very important that every child is given the opportunity to contribute to the life of the school, and also that they are able to take responsibility to make sure that their actions follow their words.  The junior committees oversee working parties that manage day to day issues or tackle challenging projects.

Examples of the achievements of the Parliament are:

  • Guiding the school’s healthy eating programme
  • Planning a School Family Sponsored Cycle Ride
  • Gathering the views of every child for our grounds improvement and working with governors to prioritise and help plan the project
  • Running walk to school weeks and challenging local councillors about Swanpool’s Safe Route to School

But probably the greatest achievement is creating the effective structure of the Parliament itself, as through it every individual voice matters and our children move on in their education with confidence and a strong sense of their responsibility, and the belief that they can make a difference.