Guidance for governing bodies on the establishment and operation of school councils

The Welsh Government is committed to implementation of the United Nations’ convention on the rights of the child (UNCRC).

Article 12.1 of the convention states that signatories “shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child”.

It is Welsh Government policy that the opinions of children and young people should be heard by decision makers in all public services. The statutory requirement for school councils is one way to ensure the delivery of services for children and young people in schools takes proper account of their needs and wishes by providing a means to listen and act upon what they say. 

School councils are also a way of providing learners with the opportunity to develop participation skills, so that they become active citizens in the school community and beyond.

Learners are the most important stakeholders in schools. Their school career has a great impact on their future. The Welsh Government therefore requires schools to provide learners with the appropriate means to make their opinions known and to contribute to decision making through a school council. 

Effective school councils can:

• make schools more inclusive and better places by bringing together learners, staff, the senior management team, and the governing body
• provide a formalised channel of communication between learners, the senior management team and the governing body
• provide a sounding board for the senior management team and governing body
• offer an organised and representative way for learners to express their opinions
• help learners develop and practise life skills such as communication and improve their understanding of the perspectives and opinions of others
• give learners opportunities to take responsibility and to share ownership of problems and their resolution
• help improve mutual understanding between learners, staff, senior management and governors

School councils demonstrate a commitment to engage with learners and to value their contribution. By doing so they can help:

• improve behaviour and attendance
• improve standards of achievement as learners and staff work together in a participatory process
• enhance some aspects of learning
• provide evidence of taking account of the views of learners
• facilitate changes in the school environment and provision, and in relationships with the local community

The Children’s Commissioner for Wales provides helpful guidance and good practice case studies in helping secondary schools to maximise young people’s voices through the school councils: AMPLIFY

Cymru Ifanc/Young Wales is a Children in Wales initiative, funded by Welsh Government about listening to young people & empowering their voices and underpinned by the UNCRC and the Children and Young People’s National Participation Standards: Young Wales

The School Councils (Wales) Regulations 2005 were made under sections 19(2), 19(3), 20(2), 21(3), 210(7) and 214(1) of the Education Act 2002 and came into force on 31 December 2005. 

In addition, the Government of Maintained Schools (Wales) Regulations 2005 were amended by the School Councils Regulations, to provide for associate pupil governors.

This guidance is intended for governing bodies and is issued under section 176 and 19(7) of the Education Act 2002. Section 176 of the Education Act 2002 places a duty on local education authorities and governing bodies of maintained schools to have regard to guidance issued by the Welsh Government about consultation with pupils in connection with the taking of decisions that affect them. Section 19(7) of the 2002 Act provides that a local education authority or the governing body of a maintained school shall have regard to any guidance given by the Welsh Government in discharging any function conferred by regulations under that section. 

Accordingly governing bodies, and local education authorities in providing advice to governing bodies, must have regard to this guidance.

The governing body of every maintained school in Wales, except maintained nursery and infant schools, is required to establish a school council. A governing body and headteacher may agree to establish a school council jointly with the governing body and headteacher of another school.

Although the regulations do not require maintained nursery or infant schools to establish school councils, the Welsh Government encourages such schools to set up less formal, but nonetheless recognised and effective, ways of seeking the views of learners and to give them a voice in the running of their school.

The headteacher must ensure that the school council meets at least six times during the school year. Meetings should be held at regular intervals as far as is practicable.

School council members must consist solely of pupils registered at the school. Arrangements must be put in place for at least one registered pupil from Year 3 and each year group above to be elected as members of the school council. The school council should be inclusive and representative, reflecting the diversity of all pupils who attend the school. 

The governing body and headteacher must make arrangements for registered pupils to be elected to the school council by secret ballot.

Members must not be chosen by school staff, the headteacher, or the governing body all registered pupils are entitled to vote for candidates in their year group.

The regulations do not dictate the number of members that a school council should have. A balance should be struck between a workable number and achieving balanced representation of learners. School councils should aim to be representative of the learner community and pay close attention to the inclusion of learners with protected characteristics.

At its most basic level this might be achieved by learners electing two learners from each year group. In a primary school, this would produce a council with 8 members, and in a secondary school with 14 members. In very small primary schools, with perhaps 30 learners or fewer, it might be more practical for all registered pupils to be members of the school council - this approach would fulfil the requirements for elections.

The governing body and headteacher of a maintained school which has an Additional Learning Needs (ALN) resource base must make arrangements for the appointment to the school council of at least one registered pupil from that ALN resource base. This is required irrespective of the size of a school’s ALN resource base, or of the fact that any learner from the ALN resource base has been elected as their year group member of the school council. Any ALN resource base representative on the school council is additional to the year group representatives on the school council. Arrangements for appointing a learner representative from a ALN resource base need to be sensitive to avoid stigmatisation while encouraging representation.

It is up to schools to determine how candidates should be nominated. Learners might nominate themselves or be put forward by their peers. Candidates should not be chosen or recommended by the staff, headteacher or governing body.

Elections may be held at any time of year. There is no regulation about how frequently they should be called, or the length of members’ term of office. It is suggested, however, that an annual election would strike a balance between members having sufficient time to get to grips with their role and an opportunity to refresh the make-up of the council. Current members may stand for re-election but it is important to avoid stasis and provide opportunity for as many learners as possible to serve on school councils. There may be need for a handover after elections. This might take the form of a joint meeting of the old and new council, or an invitation to a small number of former members to attend meetings of the new council for a period of time as advisers, or learners with an interest in becoming members being co-opted as shadow members.

The regulations require that all school council meetings are supervised by at least one member of school staff. Otherwise, the regulations do not stipulate how the school council should operate; it is for each school council to determine its own arrangements. However, school council business will need to be managed smoothly for the council to be effective and valued by learners, staff and the governing body.

It is recommended that a school council has a constitution setting out how the school council will work. This document might set out:

• the aims of the council
• the structure of the council
• ground rules for managing school council discussions and note-taking of meetings
• choosing, if desired, a chairperson,secretary and treasurer from its membership and determining their responsibilities
• how the school council will communicate with headteacher, governing body, and learners
• arrangements for the election of school council members, their terms of office, the grounds for premature termination of membership, and arrangements for replacing members who stand down early
• arrangements for establishing sub-committees or working parties to consider specific matters
• arrangements for deciding on the use of any monies or resources raised by the school council or in its control

All school council members should have a copy of the constitution, and it should be made readily available to all registered pupils and reviewed on a regular basis. 

School councils may meet any number of times in excess of the regulatory requirement for a minimum of six meetings during the school year. The length of meetings should be determined by the volume and nature of business, but it is important that meetings are not too long, or interest and attention could wane. It is expected that meetings will be held during the normal school day. Lunchtime, break times or outside of school hours are not recommended as suitable times for meetings of the school council.

Agenda setting and management of business are crucial to a school council’s success. It is important that agendas comprise items in which learners have a real interest and can make a meaningful contribution. However, the issues to be discussed should be agreed by the school council itself, taking account of issues that learners at the school wish the council to consider.

Time should be allocated to school council members to enable them to fully consult with the wider learner population and to feed back the results of school council deliberations.

Arrangements need to be put in place for notetaking. This might be shared between members of the council or assigned to one member, with support from school staff. School administrative staff might provide help where there is capacity for them to do so.

The council needs to decide on the appointment of council officers, for example, chair, deputy chair, treasurer, secretary, at an early meeting and on the method of appointment. This could be by secret ballot by council members following nomination or by a show of hands at a meeting. The council will also need to decide on the term of appointment, this could be for the full year or shorter.

Especially in primary schools, the council chair is likely to need support from school staff in their role, for example introducing agenda items, clarifying matters, checking understanding, ensuring all council members have the opportunity to speak and summarising discussion and decisions. Less support may be needed in secondary schools, but it may be helpful for the chair to be given the opportunity to run through matters with a member of staff before meetings.

The regulations do not stipulate what school councils should consider. However, suggested issues which might be of interest include:

• improvements to the school environment such as toilets, litter, school décor, the playground, recycling
• developing resources and facilities such as the school library, sports, music or drama facilities
• anti-bullying, anti-racism, mentoring, learner wellbeing, pastoral support, diversity and inclusion
• the transition from primary to secondary school and to tertiary or further or higher education
• healthy eating and healthy recreation
• improvements to learning, additions or changes to the timetable or to the curriculum such as the provision of new subject or different sports
• lunchtime and after school activities
• fundraising and (or) use of any allocated budget
• school meals
• school uniform
• attendance
• code of conduct for teacher-learner relations
• decisions regarding the running of the school (school policies, code of conduct, ethos)
• links with the local community and local community projects, for example, environmental projects
• representations to the local authority on issues of concern to pupils, for example, transport

The regulations do not preclude a school council from discussing any topic. Nevertheless, it is recommended that school councils should not consider personal issues relating to individual learners, staff or others.

A school council is a forum for learners to discuss matters relating to their school, their education, or any other matters which they deem of concern or interest and to have a voice in the running of the school and to participate in decisions that affect them. The school council provides a representative and inclusive means by which issues can be brought to the attention of the headteacher and the governing body. The regulations require the headteacher and governing body to consider any matter communicated to them by the school council and to provide a response.

Headteachers and governing bodies may use their discretion in deciding how to reply to communications from the school council, taking into account how the matter is raised (be it verbally or in writing) and its nature. However, it is expected that the headteacher and governing body will reply to all written communications in writing. It is important that reasons are given for decisions and that answers are timely and are not dismissive or patronising. Any matters communicated to the governing body should receive a reply from the governing body directly and not a second-hand reply communicated by the headteacher. Responses to all communications should be prompt.

The school council also provides a means for the headteacher and the governing body to obtain representative opinion from pupils.

The headteacher and governing body should give thought to the matters on which they would like to obtain the council’s opinion. The matters should be of genuine interest to learners and consultation should be timely and meaningful not tokenistic.

The success of a school council will depend on how well it engages with the wider learner population and captures their ideas, opinions and concerns. Learners at the school will need to have regular opportunities to think about and discuss what they would like the school council to consider and to have effective means to communicate this to the school council. This process should provide opportunities for a regular flow of ideas and suggestions to be considered by the school council, and the input should be a crucial part of the make-up of school council agendas. Feedback from the council to learners is very important if interest and enthusiasm is to be generated and sustained. Adequate time should therefore also be given for feedback, so that all learners are aware of the outcomes of matters considered by the school council.

It is important that learners know who their school council members are. Class-based discussion, attended or led by a school council member will help. It is also suggested that school council members could have badges or lanyards, and the names and pictures of the council members be placed prominently where learners can see them.

The governing body and headteacher may provide the school council with resources. Doing so helps give the school council status as well as providing a means to facilitate its work. Resources can be whatever the governing body and headteacher deem is fit and so might be physical, financial, or staff support for secretarial work. It is recommended that ground rules for the control and use of resources are made clear in the school council’s constitution. In line with the regulations, the governing body and headteacher must consider any request from the school council for resources and provide a response.

Different arrangements apply for maintained community special schools and foundation special schools in recognition of the practicalities of establishing and maintaining a representative school council. Regulations 3(2)(a), 4(2), 6 and 7 do not apply to community special schools or foundation special schools. This means:

• There is no requirement upon the headteachers of such schools to ensure that the school council meets six times a year. Headteachers may hold meetings as they see fit, with the date of the first meeting at a time of their choice.
• The governing body and headteacher are not required to make arrangements for the election of at least one pupil to the school council from each year group.
• The governing body and headteacher are not required to make arrangements for elections to be by secret ballot. The governing body and headteacher may choose or recommend learners for membership but they are encouraged in doing so to reflect the make-up of the school population in terms of protected characteristics and to include a cross-section of ages.
• There is no requirement on the headteacher to ensure that the school council has the opportunity to nominate up to two learners from years 11 to 13 (inclusive) from its membership to be associate pupil governors. Headteachers of community special schools and foundation special schools with these year groups may choose to consider such an arrangement. But prior agreement of the acceptance by the governing body of the nominated learners would need to be reached as the regulation requiring governing bodies to accept associate pupil governors does not apply to maintained community special schools and foundation special schools.

The headteacher must give the school council the opportunity to nominate one or two of its members, from years 11, 12 or 13, to be associate pupil governors. The governing body must accept these nominated learners and appoint them as associate governors to the governing body unless there are reasons to disqualify them under Schedule 5 of the Government of Maintained Schools (Wales) Regulations 2005.

The purpose of associate pupil governors is to provide the voice of the school council at governing body meetings and in turn to communicate matters from the governing body to the school council. They have a link role to bring learners and the governing body together. The governing body must consider any matter communicated by the school council and the governing body must provide a response. Where the communication from the school council is in writing the governing body is expected to reply in writing.

Associate pupil governors are well placed to contribute to governing body consideration of matters such as:

• the formulation and review of policies that affect learners such as school uniform, anti-bullying policies, sex education, learner-teacher relations, behaviour and attendance
• the development of whole-school initiatives and change such as programmes for global citizenship, healthy schools and eco-schools
• the development and provision of school facilities
• formulation and review of the school development plan
• input to any post-inspection plan
• review of the curriculum and how to improve teaching and learning
• links with the local community and local projects
   

The creation of associate pupil governors has required the consequential amendment of the Government of Maintained Schools (Wales) Regulations 2005. Associate pupil governors:

• are in addition to other members of the governing body
• do not count towards the quorum of governing body or governing body committee meetings
• are not permitted to be a clerk to the governing body or a governing body committee
• may not vote at governing body meetings
• may hold office for one year after which they may be re-appointed if they are still school council members
• may be removed by the governing body in the same way that appointed parent governors and partnership governors can be removed from the governing body

Associate pupil governors may be members of non-statutory governing body committees and may vote at those committees if the governing body grants them voting rights. Associate pupil governors may not be members of the statutory committees.

It may not be appropriate for associate pupil governors to be party to information or discussion about certain sensitive matters. For this reason, the governing body may exclude associate pupil governors from any discussion which is about:

• staffing matters such as pay, discipline, performance management, grievance and dismissal
• admissions
• individual pupil discipline
• election, appointment and removal of governors
• the budget and financial commitments of the governing body
• in the case of a voluntary aided school, the Trust Deed

The governing body also has discretion to exclude associate pupil governors from any discussion which, because of its nature, is considered to be and should remain confidential. This discretionary power is not intended to provide the governing body with a pretext to exclude associate pupil governors from discussions without good reason. There should be a presumption that associate pupil governors are party to a significant proportion of governing body business

In addition to associate pupil members, governing bodies are encouraged to agree with the school council ways of working together. These could include:

• the school council inviting governors to attend council meetings and (or) asking for meetings with governing body representatives on a regular basis to consider specific issues
• school council members other than the associate pupil members attending governing body meetings as observers
• the governing body reporting on the school council and its activities and achievements in its annual report to parents

Many governing body meetings are held after school hours and the headteacher needs to ensure that associate pupil governors are able to travel home safely. The governing body should make allowance in the school budget for any costs that such arrangements incur.