Pupil Voice & Responsibility
At Merryhills we encourage our pupils to have the confidence to articulate their views and be responsible citizens - here are some of the ways we do that.
The Merryhills School Parliament
Every year, a new Merryhills School Parliament is created.
Classes from Year 2 to Year 5 elect two individuals to represent their class as school councillors. Our Year 6 pupils are elected as 'Members of Parliament'. From the Year 6 MPs elected, the children are given the option to run for the exciting role of Merryhills' Prime Minister.
All pupils who wish to run for councillor deliver a speech to their classmates and then a vote is carried out. Our Year 6 MPs who run for Prime Minister, bravely speak in front of the whole school in assembly to explain why they believe they should be elected. A polling station is then set up for each class to cast their vote.
The parliament members meet regularly with a member of school staff to discuss a wide variety of school issues. They feedback to classes and listen to the views of the children. Ideas are then brought back to the main parliament meetings to be discussed. We then plan and carry out activities or tasks around the school to help tackle these issues.
Meet our 2023 - 2024 Parliament Members
Meet this year's Councillors, MPs and Prime Minister and find out about what we plan to work on over the coming months.
Our Merryhills Parliament are also given other responsible roles at Merryhills. They are involved in the recruitment of staff; speaking with visitors and other educational professionals; and meeting with Governors.
Junior Travel Ambassadors
One of the aims our Parliament set out at the beginning of the year, was to establish a group of Junior Travel Ambassadors to help tackle road safety issues and to promote active travel within the school and local community. This also forms part of our goals from the TfL Travel for Life programme.
So far this year, we have carried out road safety surveys during school drop-off times and other members of our school have taken part in a Junior Road Watch with our local community police officers.
We are passionate about making a difference and tackling issues that may affect our families.
Our Pupil Activities
TfL Travel for Life
As a school, we take part in the TfL Travel for Life programme.
We encourage our pupils to think about active travel opportunities and how this can benefit their health and well-being. Pupils take part in a range of activities across the year as part of this initiative. This has included, cycle training for all year groups, participating in Walk to School and Bike Weeks, conducting travel surveys within the school and where able, using public transport for school trips.
Last year, we were awarded a Silver Accreditation for all our work.
Pupil Conferencing
When our Subject Leaders, Senior Leadership Team and visitors take a closer look at the subjects being taught, the pupils at Merryhills have the opportunity to have their say.
We ask questions about what they have been learning, how they will use this learning in the future and use this opportunity to find out the links pupils have been making across the curriculum.
