Bucklesham Primary School

My colleague stephenpage@schoolcouncils.org sent me this short case study about young people being involved in appointing their new headteacher...

"Bucklesham School is in a transition phase as it looks to recruit a new Headteacher. Should the children be involved or is it none of their business? Do they have the emotional capacity to make a worthwhile contribution or is this tokenism?
At the start of the process a meeting was held with the link teacher, one of the Governors from the Interview Panel and the whole school council. It was explained to the children at the very start that the school council was part of the interview process but that they were not making the decision. They were not choosing the Headteacher, but their thoughts would be an important part of the decision making process as a whole.

In the next stage, the children were asked what questions they would like to ask. They came up with about 30 questions in the first instance, so it was explained that there might not be time to ask ALL the questions. The council with the help of the Link Teacher, went through the questions one by one to decide if they were really relevant to the choosing of a new Headteacher (e.g. "Do you like the colour of our bricks"). In some cases it was possible to combine 2 or 3 similar questions in to one. At the end of the process, the questions were whittled down to 11 in total. These included such questions as:

• What would you do if someone was being bullied? 
• What is your favourite hobby? 
• Do you play a musical instrument? If so, what do you play? 
• Do you consider yourself to be a fair person? 
• Do you think you are an organised person? 
• What makes you want to be Headteacher at Bucklesham?

The questions were numbered in order of priority so that the council would be sure to have asked the most important questions if time ran out. In light of the quality of questions, the Chair of Governors was so impressed that he allocated extra time for the questions to be asked and answered. On the day, eleven questions being asked of each of 2 interviewees meant that everyone on the council got to ask at least one question. After the School Council had met with both of the applicants, the Link Teacher and the Governor from the Interview Panel spent time with the children to get their views. The children proved to be very perceptive and the whole exercise was of great value. The Link Teacher and the Governor present at the School Council interviews reported back to the Interview Panel.

A School Councillor said "It felt good to have a say in what would happen. I enjoyed the experience of seeing some people who could be very good headteachers. I enjoyed asking the questions and listening to how they answered. I liked knowing that what I said might help to choose the right headteacher."
The Link Teacher said "The School Council members / children thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being involved in HeadTeacher interviews. With only a little guidance they prepared thoughtful questions, presented these well to the candidates, and responded appropriately to the answers they received. Their feedback at the end of the interview day was a unanimous thumbs up."
The Vice-Chair said "The School Council showed great maturity when deciding upon their questions for the Headteacher applicants. Several of the questions were very insightful, and showed a real understanding of what they wanted to achieve with their questions. They were incredibly proud to be part of the whole process and completely understood their role within that process. Well done School Council!"

This engagement and involvement of young people in all aspects of the life of the school lies at the heart of our brilliant 'Investors in Pupils' scheme. Investors in Pupils was developed in Leeds and builds on the principles of Investors in People. At its heart is the voice of young people and their participation and Investors in Pupils helps young people find out about their school, the jobs of everyone in it and understand that the school has a budget. It supports them in setting targets for their class and for themselves while recognising the importance of the roles and responsibilities of everyone involved in their education, and how they as young people can make a difference. If you want to find out more visit their website at www.investorsinpupils.co.uk/.
Chris