Pupil Voice

Birley Spa’s Pupil Voice Offer

Our pupils’ voice is the most precious resource we have. Their views, opinions and beliefs are shaped throughout their childhood and used to guide them throughout their lives. Birley Spa pupils must leave us with the ability to speak confidently, debate and give informed opinions. They must also know how to make informed opinions and have the confidence to challenge others’ views respectfully. All pupil voice teams have representatives from children of different backgrounds. Pupils with SEND and pupils who receive Pupil Premium actively contribute to our pupil voice groups. All pupil voice groups have the opportunity to talk to members of our wonderful Academy Governing Body to allow our Governors to hear everything they need to know from our children. This really helps the governors to support and challenge leaders in school.

What it means to belong – by Miss Davies’ class

Family Is…

Family is not just people.

Family is not always getting along.

Family is feeling connected when you’re with the people you love the most.

Family is staying together and being with them inside your heart.

Family is feeling happy and having a warm heart.

Family is someone you can trust and share your thoughts with.

Family is being grateful for people who love you

Family is a place where you are listened to and respected.

Family is the most important thing because they love you for who you are.

What it means to belong – by Mrs Roberts’ class

What family means..

Family means loving hearts,
And always being kind.

It means caring, sharing things,
And keeping one another in mind.

Family means having nice things to do,
And showing love each day.

It means giving respect to everyone,
In every single way.

Family means enjoyment,
And presents and giving too.

It means hugs and kisses
To show, “I care for you.”

Family means feeling grateful,
And having happiness inside.

It means no one gets left behind,
With everyone on your side.

Family means kindness,
And a place where you can be yourself.

It means being good, being grateful,
And thinking of someone else.

Family means you can play with them,
With giggles and laughter too.

Family is the special place
Where people truly care for you.

What it means to belong – by Miss Gilson’s class

My Family Makes Me Feel:

My family makes me feel good,
And they are helpful every day.

They make me happy, keep me safe,
And joyful when we play.

I feel excited when we’re together,
Because they fill me with joy.

I’m grateful for the things they do,
Every adult, girl, and boy.

My family makes life nice and warm,
And I know I’m truly loved.

They make me proud of who I am,
And I feel looked after and hugged.

They always try to be kind,
And they make me feel special too.

They help me feel welcome
In everything I do.

Their love gives me energy,
And helps me feel like I belong.

With them I feel calm and confident,
Because family makes me strong.

The children chose:	The children think:
Children	We all include each other. If you’re new or you’ve been here for ages, you’ll have someone to play with and work with. No matter where we’re from or how long we’ve known each other, we all learn from each other. We like how not everyone is the same, our differences make us interesting. The school values help us really appreciate each other. Older children help younger children enjoy lunchtimes by teaching them how to play and share properly. We have quite a few children who come back if they’ve left because they know this is a great place to be! Everyone who needs any extra help gets it straight away and all of us contribute to making school amazing.
Rewards	The House Points are brilliant to show you’re doing the right thing. We all love getting House Points and it’s so exciting to see how many each house has each week! The Learners’ Code points make us go the extra mile. It pushes us to think about how to show the school values in different ways.
Curriculum and Learning	It’s best when we interact with each other when we’re learning. Our Teamwork value is really important. Each day is new and interesting. Our lessons build on knowledge from what we’ve learned before and gives us a chance to gain new skills. We have visual ways to learn, like in Active English or Jigsaw characters, so we don’t forget what we’ve learned. We develop loads of strategies to help ourselves if we’re stuck. Our wider curriculum really helps us to understand the opportunities we’ll have as adults to do what we love for our jobs or make a difference in a way we didn’t know was possible!
Global education	We care deeply about our community and do everything we can to help those close by and those far away. We think about climate change and recycle in school. Our Eco Council works with the Site Manager to care for our environment but also undertake projects to impact the wider world. We raise money for a range of charities and events around the world, such as Children in Need and support for people close to home and around the world who would benefit from our help.
Curriculum enrichment	We also have special assemblies, like when Team GB came to school to work with us about how putting in effort now leads to a lifetime of success. We have three Enterprise Weeks each year, then we use our Christmas Fayre, Easter Fayre and Summer Fayre to sell what we’ve created. Our trips and visits give us chance to deepen our learning as well as experience cultural opportunities such as different places of faith, sporting events and music concerts. Our clubs are a great way to make new friends after school and we use them to develop hobbies too.
Dinner times	Our school lunches are delicious and we get them really quickly. There’s always a lot to choose from and it’s made fresh every day. Our Curriculum Champions work with Taylor Shaw caterers to design a menu that is scrumptious and healthy so that we can always have a range of exciting meals. The menus change to match things going on in Britain, like World Book Day or Christmas dinner. We enjoy getting to play with our friends and spending time outside to boost our brains ready for the wider curriculum learning in the afternoon.
Pupil Voice opportunities	We have lots of ways to be heard at Birley Spa. All the children can be involved and make a difference. We appreciate opportunities to make suggestions or changes in school. Our Safeguarding Stewards have influenced the Local Authority and PCSOs to improve traffic calming measures outside school. We know we can make a big difference so it’s great that our adults recognise that too.
Staff	Our teachers and support staff all care about us so much. If you need help you get it and they keep our learning exciting. They’re kind and show the values all the time. They know loads and make each subject interesting and fun. If you’re ever sad or need to talk, any adult will support you. Our staff keep all children safe and happy.
Assemblies	We really enjoy assemblies because we have loads of positive things to celebrate. Who has the most House Points this week? Who has won the attendance challenge for each key stage? Who has been noticed by their teacher for showing the school values? It’s brilliant because the House Captains and Attendance Ambassadors run the assembly for House Points and Attendance. They’re really clear and make it exciting.
Outdoor environment	Our amazing outdoor spaces look fantastic and make breaks, lunchtimes and PE great. Our sensory garden is a beautiful, calm space to relax. Our playground has lots of equipment to climb on or practise our gymnastics on. Our court makes it easier to play ball games so we can be separate and our outdoor learning environment is great for us to use for Forest School. Early Years children have a beautiful outdoor space that lets them learn through playing every day, even in the rain!

Birley Spa’s Pupil Voice Offer

What it means to belong – by Miss Davies’ class

What it means to belong – by Mrs Roberts’ class

What it means to belong – by Miss Gilson’s class

Attendance Ambassadors

Curriculum Champions

Safeguarding Stewards

Pupil Parliament

Eco Council

House Captains