The School Council
The School Council is made up of two children per class from Woodpeckers (Year 1) to Eagles (Year 6). At the beginning of the Autumn term the children who were interested in becoming class councillors gave a personal presentation to their classes describing how their individual qualities and characteristics made them suitable for the role. Each class then held a democratic election to appoint their chosen representatives. The council meets on a weekly basis.
These are the elected councillors for 2019 – 2020:
Woodpeckers: Saara Ali and Ayaan Hussain
Kingfishers: Bayane el Mansori and Mohammed Sadiq
Swallows: Amara Kauser and Daniyal Shaikh
Doves: Junaid Nadeem and Sana Shazad
Owls: Sadiqa Noor and Sami Zaman
Kestrels: Zahra Faqir and Ahmed Patel
Hawks: Zunerah Patel and Manjoor Rangrej
Eagles: Hussain Jamshed and Kulsum Kauser
At our first meeting, Hussain volunteered to the Chairperson for the School Council and Kulsum volunteered for the role of Secretary.
What is the School Council?
Why have a School Council?
What are the responsibilities of a School Councillor?
Minutes of Meetings
Chosen councillors take minutes of the meetings and a copy of these are given to all classes for the councillors to share with their classmates and classroom staff. Mr Rogers, Mrs Martin, Mrs Fenton, Mrs Higgins, Mrs Patel and Mrs Rhodes also get copies of them.
Our Priorities for the Year
You can read about how we're getting on with the above points and with any other issues that have arisen from our meetings. Just click on the document below.
School Council Visit to the Mayor
On Tuesday 26th February 2019 last year's School Councillors went to Blackburn Town Hall to meet the Mayor of Blackburn with Darwen. We wanted to find out what kinds of jobs she does.
Just outside the Town Hall we looked at a large statue with a plaque saying it was William Henry Hornby. We found out later that this was the first ever Mayor of Blackburn.
We met the Mayor in a large room called the Mayor’s Parlour. We asked her different questions and learned that she is always very busy and that some of her jobs include opening new buildings, attending Summer fairs, visiting schools and hospitals and attending funerals and weddings. She also told us that she will stop being the Mayor in May and there will then be a new Mayor.
When we were in the parlour we were shown and taught about different objects. We looked at the different chains that are worn by the Mayor and her deputies and heard about how one of the chains had been stolen a few years ago. We looked at the special robes that the Mayor wears when she goes to Council meetings and also the mace that is used at the beginning of the meetings.
Then we were taken into the Council Chamber, which is where all the Councillors of Blackburn with Darwen have their meetings. It is a big room with benches and desks all around. The Mayor sits at the front of the room in a large chair. We found out that in the past the Chamber was used as a courtroom. The Councillors’ tables have a microphone so that everyone can hear them speak and also a light. We found out that there is a ‘traffic light’ system for letting people have their turn to speak; when the light turns green, they have five minutes to speak in front of everyone else. When there is one minute left the light turns orange and when it turns red they have to stop speaking. If they carry on when the red light comes on the Mayor can ask them to leave the Chamber.
We looked closely at the Blackburn coat of arms and learned that each part of it has its own meaning. The three bees represent the industries that used to be in Blackburn, the blue stripe is the River Blakewater running through the town, the green stripe represents the Royal Forests of Blackburn, the horn represents Blackburn’s first Mayor, the shuttle represents the weaving industry of Blackburn and the dove and olive branch represent peace.
It was a very interesting visit and we hope you have enjoyed reading about it.