Student Voice
At Parayhouse, we believe that children need to be active participants in their own education and to feel that their opinions will be heard in the wider school community. We therefore seek ways to listen to the views of our pupils and involve them in decision-making so that they are engaged as partners in the life of the school. We believe that this will make a positive contribution to the school environment and ethos.
Given the differing communication difficulties of our students, it is important that they are all supported to share their views in a way that is suitable for their individual needs. Our Speech and Language Therapists are integral to aiding in their process.
We aim to create a culture of communication where students feel confident and empowered to give their feedback to staff and discuss their thoughts and feelings. Other specific methods of gathering feedback might be:
- Where possible, tailored student questionnaires
- Students are asked for quotes and comments for the module newsletter
- Student Voice focus feedback each half term
Student Voice in Practice
Each half term, students to provide feedback on a specific area of school life. These focus areas are chosen to support students to channel their thoughts and feelings and to support the school with gathering feedback on specific areas of school development ensuring we are acting in way which is positively impacting our community.
The feedback is gathered in individual classes by staff familiar with the best communication strategies for each student. This might be a questionnaire, group discussion or picture choices.
This feedback is provided to the Student Voice staff lead who then discusses it with the Head Boy and Head Girl and together they create a summary presentation.
The presentation is shared with Senior Leaders at a dedicated meeting and minutes are taken.
Minutes are taken to Senior Leadership Team meetings and actions are determined. There are added to the formal minutes and signed by the Head boy, Head Girl and Headteacher.
Actions taken are discussed at the next meeting and added to the Student Voice board in the hallway