Student council aims to make XLIS a better place by taking action to ensure students’ voices are heard and respected.
If you have a chance to join the student council meeting on Friday, you will be surprised by these ‘representatives’, they are open-minded and caring, they help those in need and appreciate different cultures and perspectives; they are confident risk-takers, they ensure students’ voice is heard and valued.
The XLIS Primary Student Council is a group of action-orientated students whose aim is to make the school a better place. Each student submitted a written application on the topic of how they envision their involvement would improve the school community. Students held elections within their class and thus, the primary student council was born. Student council members meet every Friday with their facilitators, Ms. Julia Fan and Ms. Denise Dukeshire. This school year, the student council meeting is 90% student-led and student-centered, which means students have their voice, choice and ownership, in other words, they have the opportunity to develop their agency. Agency is the power to take meaningful and intentional action, and acknowledges the rights and responsibilities of the individual, supporting voice, choice and ownership for everyone in the learning community (citation). The agenda is created by students and the meeting minutes are done by students as well.
Some of the initiatives they have brought to the table are:
· Food waste campaign
· Literacy week activities
· Problems of lunchtime and playtime
Their first task was to facilitate Primary Literacy Week. We brainstormed ideas for literacy week activities and then discussed what can student council members do to bring something new. They all volunteered to do different jobs. Some were responsible for creating literacy games, some were working together to make posters and flyers. And we had two groups of students to be the hosts of the Character Parade and Mandarin Performance.
One of the upcoming tasks will be finding funds to support an orphanage in Xian. Currently the orphanage is in need of a new mat floor and two therapy elements. The student council will help with this social project and work on how to raise money. The other upcoming event is called ‘the giving tree’, this is a student council sponsored event. In the past several years, the event was conducted by MYP students, but this year, Ms. Yorke, the secondary school principal invited the primary student council members to join them as well. They will work in pairs to prepare a Christmas gift according to the name card they get and send their gift students in a local village.
We are here to support the students. We are here to come up with solutions for problems and issues. We are here to make XLIS a better place!
Reference:The learner in the enhanced PYP (page 1)
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Author:
Julia Fan (P6C Homeroom Teacher, PYP Chinese Assistant Coordinator)
Denise Dukeshire (P2B Homeroom Teacher)
