By Ed Dickie, Headteacher Claremont Senior School.
With greater focus than ever on schools adapting to a changing environment, Ed Dickie, Headteacher at Claremont Senior School, shares his thoughts on reimagining the student voice
School leaders are often obsessed with the delivery and process of change. Quite rightly, they will always be looking for ways to improve their school and teaching staff will often be asked to embrace a new initiative designed to transform an area of the organisation perceived as being either underperforming or in need of updating. Some of these initiatives are genuinely transformative, others less so, but experience has taught me that the success or failure of new ideas is often defined by the extent to which the most important element in the process has been consulted and considered: the students. ?Student voice? is not a new thing in Schools. Consulting students is a hallmark of a good school, something acknowledged by both Ofsted and ISI, but the quality of this consultation can vary. At Claremont we have been considering the question of student voice for some time. Initially, this was through the traditional methods: a school council, prefect system and student panels when recruiting staff. This was fine and, at times, enlightening and important. But it would also be fair to say that there were long, dormant periods when the Council was less than active awaiting the arrival of a new ?super? student able to galvanise it back into action. Ultim...