General 2 — Parteen National School

Student Council

The Student Council in Parteen National School was established in 2021. The aim of the council is to provide students with greater involvement in the decision making procedures of the school, to use their pupil voice and learn about the democratic process.

Two children from each class are elected by secret ballot and retain their positions on the council for the duration of the school year.

The Student Council meets several times each term. Meetings are facilitated by a lead teacher with council representatives collecting ideas and suggestions for the agenda from each class ahead of each meeting. Suggestions are then discussed, prioritised and brought to the attention of the Principal, Ms. Smyth, and to staff meetings. We intend to work closely with the principal, BOM, the Parents Association and whole school community to make positive changes at Parteen National School. Working on the School Council allows us to promote pupil voice, develop leadership skills and confidence. We will organise fun events, as well as develop systems for increasing pupil voice in all aspects of school life.

Some activities we hope to introduce in the future include: new events such as a Christmas Fair or Halloween Hooley, working on green issues such as recycling, supporting the PA with events, forming a ‘Welcoming Team’ for visitors to our school and creating a School Council newsletter.

The student council continues to play an important role in school life and makes a vital contribution to improving our school environment and the quality of school life for all pupils and staff.

Meet Our School Council 2023-2024

There are 27 representatives on the School Council, with a boy and girl elected from every class in the school.

School Council -News & Activities

Enjoy this video of our School Council speaking about their busy year and favourite activities.

School Self Evaluation

As part of the School Self Evaluation process we have been busy carrying out pupil well-being questionnaires with younger pupils in the school.
Events at Parteen

We were delighted to welcome visitors to our school to watch the fantastic Christmas plays. It was a busy two weeks as we greeted over 300 visitors!
Pet Farm

We were delighted to help out when the pet farm visited Parteen School. We helped the farmer to handle the animals and supported our younger friends with petting the animals and feeding them.

Suggestion Boxes

The Student Council use suggestion boxes placed in classrooms to gather ideas from the classmates about projects which we can run. They used the boxes to gather ideas for sports equipment and bought lots of exciting yard toys.
Split the Pot

Pupils from the Student Council organised our very successful Split the Pot fundraiser. They promoted it in all classes, delivered envelopes around the school and helped the Parents Association to count the money after the draws.
Sports Day

Our Student Council worked very hard organising and working at both our Junior and Senior sports day. From organising obstacle courses to leading the games and activites, they helped to ensure we had a very sccessful day.

Welcoming our new pupils.

The Student Council played a key role on the day our new Junior Infants came to visit in June. They welcomed parents and pupils and showed everyone around while answering questions about our wonderful school.
Website Launch

Pupil voice is key in the organisation of all school events. The Student Council helped to organise our website launch, welcomed our visitors and also acted as comperes on the day.
Playground Leaders

Our Student Council are proud of their roles as playground leaders. This important job involves setting up and organising yard toys, as well as playing games with our junior pupils at break-times.

Meet our School Council leaders

At our first school council meeting, members of the council voted for our Chairperson, Vice-Chair and Secretary. Congratulations to our successful candidates!
Our First Meeting

The School Council enjoyed hot chocolate and marshmallows at their first official meeting with Ms Smyth. All members introduced themselves to the group and we elected the School Council leaders.
Communication

The School Council play a key role in communicating messages to the school community and have been busy delivering important information through the intercom.

Supporting Projects

The School Council play an active role in all school events and projects. They recently supported staff with a filming project across the school.
School Council Elections

Every class in the school visited the polling station to vote for their class representatives, who had made powerful and inspiring speeches in front of their classes. Well done to all children who were elected!
Thank You

Thank you and well done to our current 6th class, who spent a huge amount of time last year researching school councils and wrote a detailed plan for ours. They really believe in the power of pupil voice!