What is the Student Council and Leadership Program?
The Student Council and Leadership Program is a representative structure for all the students in the school. It provides students with the opportunity to become involved in the affairs of the school, working in partnership with school management, staff and parents. At Miami State School, the Student Council is mentored by teachers. The structure of the Student Council and Leadership Program is as follows:
Made up of 26 elected students (not including prefects)
| 2 x Student Council Presidents
11 x Year 6 prefects (who represent classes in Prep -Year 2)
20 x Elected class representatives (who represent classes in year 3 - 6
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What is the Student Council and Student Leadership responsible for?
- Working with the staff, administration and the P&C within the school.
- Communicating and consulting with all of the students within the school.
- Involving as many students as possible in the activities of the Student Council.
- Planning and managing the Student Council’s programme of activities for the year, including special events and projects.
- Fundraising and allocating funds to various school initiatives.
- Assisting with school assemblies and any major events.
- To develop positive attitudes and to practice good citizenship.
Student Council Leadership - Representative Roles
School Captains
| Teacher Mentor
|
Student Council Presidents
| Teacher Mentor
|
Prefects
| Teacher Mentor |
Sports captains
| PE Department
|
Dance Captain
| PE Department
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Choral Captain
| Music Department
|
Band Captain
| Music Department
|
Strings Captain
| Music Department
|
Cultural Captain
| Indigenous Committee
|
STEM Captain
| Technology Department
|
Class Student Council Representatives (Year 3 – Year 6)
Teachers and students from Years 3-6 will nominate a student to be a representative for their class at a fortnightly student council meeting. This student will hold this position for the entire school year. Students chosen should be good listeners and speakers as they will need to communicate to their class peers the news from each meeting they attend. They will also be required to bring to each student council meeting any ideas or issues their class have raised.
How are the lower years (Prep – Year 2) represented?
The Student Council Captains will arrange a time which suits to visit classrooms and check with teachers and students if they have any issue they would like to raise or ideas they would like to share. These captains will then bring these to the fortnightly student council meetings.
Student Council – Class representative
Class Representatives Year 3 – Year 6
Teachers and students from Years 3 – Year 6 will nominate a student to be a representative for their class at a fortnightly student council meeting for the remainder of the year. The chosen representative should be a good listener and speaker as they will need to communicate to their class peers the news from each meeting they attend. They will also be required to bring to each student council meeting any ideas or issues their class have raised.
Class Representatives Prep – Year 2
These year levels will be represented by a Year 6 Prefect who will be responsible for visiting the classes of the year level they have been allocated, and then reporting back to the student council meeting.
Responsibilities
The duties of the representative are to embody the council’s efforts to be the student voice. Representatives must develop a dialog between students in their class and representatives of the student council.
- Report student council activities to their class on a regular basis.
- Present class students’ ideas and concerns to the student council via the student council meetings.
- Attend student council meetings (once a fortnight)
- Inform students in their class about upcoming council projects and activities.
- Take informal polls on how students in their class feel about certain topics.
- Encourage students in their class to participate in projects and activities, and to attend special events.
- Seek the opinions of their classroom teachers or their student council captains on various issues.
- Display the PBL values
How to choose your classroom representative
The process of choosing your classroom representative has to be fair and equitable. Explain to students what the role of the ‘Classroom Representative for the Student Council’ will be.
- Give students time to think about this role, whether it is something they are passionate about, and possibly encourage them to have a chat with their parents.
- Ask students to nominate themselves if they are interested. Students should be given the opportunity to write a short paragraph (not more than 5 sentences) as to why they feel they would be the right representative for their class (this is to be completed during school time).
- Teacher shortlists candidates considering the individual student and their ability to follow the PBL expectations within the school, as well as follow through with the responsibilities listed above.
- Class confidentially votes on candidates. Teacher uses class vote and professional judgement to finalise successful class representative.
Student Recognition
Chosen classroom representatives will be acknowledged on assembly and will receive a special badge to wear. They will also have their names printed in the school newsletter and on the Miami Facebook page. At the end of the year, students will receive a certificate of acknowledgement which they can add to their personal portfolios.
Meetings
Meetings will be held in the mentor teacher's classroom once a fortnight (odd weeks) on a Tuesday at 1:40pm. Students are to bring their lunch and a pencil. They will be provided with a class notebook to write notes in at the first meeting, and will be responsible for bringing this to each meeting. If your classroom representative is absent on the day of a scheduled meeting, you can send another student from your class in their place. They can then communicate with the classroom rep what was covered in the meeting.