School Council
Our School Council
Our School Council consists of elected representatives from each Year 1 and Year 2 class. We meet regularly to discuss issues raised by each class and to make important decisions about our school.
School Council 2023 to 2024
Year 1
Robin - Nancy and Cameron
Squirrel - Ottilie and Rex
Year 2
Hedgehog - Indie and Eliot
Fox - Matilda and Jacob
October 12th 2023
We had a brief meeting today to have our photographs taken, meet one another and find out about what we will be doing as School Councillors.
October 19th 2023
We got our School Council badges today!
Councillors have asked their classes for ideas to fundraise for Children in Need on November 17th. There were lots of super suggestions and they chose to dress in something spotty on the day for a donation and a guess the number of marbles in the jar competition for £1 a go. There will also be a Joe Wicks workout to join in with on the day!
November 3rd 2023
Today we talked about our Children in Need assembly and Councillors have a letter to give their parents about this. From Monday, School Councillors will be coming to the classes each morning with poppies for children to make a donation and get a poppy. Jacob said he would like to make the school even better and we will talk about this more at our next meeting.
November 9th 2023
Today we helped Mrs Charles introduce what we are doing to fundraise for this very important charity. The School Council wore their 'Spotacular' outfits to show the rest of the school the sort of things they could wear. DON'T FORGET - next Friday, the 17th. Come to school wearing spots and bring a donation, have a go at guessing the number of marbles in the jar for £1 and you might win a Pudsey Bear and be ready for a Joe Wicks workout!
November 17th 2023
We had a fantastic Children in Need day and raised a fantastic £320. Thank you for your donations and joining in with 'guess the number of marbles in the jar' which was won by Lois!
January 11th 2024
We are starting to look at ways we can make our school more eco friendly. Today we visited classes to see how well everyone was doing with recycling. It looks like sometimes children get a bit confused which bin to put things in. We are hoping to get some special new bins for each class and will plan an assembly to show the rest of the school what goes where The good thing is there wasn't very much rubbish or recycling in any bins!
February 8th 2024
Great news, BWIS PTA are kindly funding our new classroom bins! This means we can order them and start planning our assembly to help everyone in school know which rubbish goes where.
Mrs Charles has also met with Mrs Tibbetts and Mrs Gabriel who are part of the Sustainable Bishops Waltham Group organised by Bishops Waltham Parish Council. They have given us some more ideas linked to sustainability and are keen to work with local schools. We have talked about their ideas today and are keen to get going!
February 29th 2024
Our new bins have arrived! Next Tuesday, the School Council are going to hold an assembly to teach the rest of the school which things can be recycled and which cannot. Today, we talked about this and tried to sort different things into the correct bins. The tricky one is blue paper hand towels because even though they are paper, they cannot be recycled! Thank you to the PTA for helping fund this project.
March 5th 2024
Today the School Council held an assembly to teach the rest of the school which items go in which bins GREEN for recycling and BLACK for everything else. Everyone had lots of fun and hopefully knows which items go in which one! Soon, we will go and check how recycling is going around the school and ask Mrs Ely, our Caretaker.
March 21st 2024
School Councillors interviewed our Caretaker, Mrs Ely today to ask how the new bins are going in the classrooms. She told Councillors that she was very impressed with how children are now recycling and remembering which things go in which bins. She said that there has been a big change to the big bins that get emptied each week. There is now a lot more in the recycling bins and a lot less in the waste bins. Well done School Councillors and Bishops Waltham Infants, we are working to make Bishops Waltham more sustainable!
April 17th 2024
Today we met to talk about new ideas for The School Council to work on.
First, we talked about our recycling bins just to make sure they are still being used to recycle things correctly and Councillors say they are! We chatted about difference this can make to sustainability and checked our ’50 ways to protect the planet’ poster to check what else we are already doing and what else we could do. Following this, we went to check the water butt to see if there was water we could use to water our planters. Sadly, there wasn’t and we think it might be leaking, so Mrs Charles will talk to Mrs Ely, our Caretaker about this.
We have discussed some future projects to work on but this week we looked at the VERY important subject of school lunches! Councillors are going back to their classes to find out:
- Favourite meals
- Meals I do not choose
- New ideas for menu choices
There were some fantastic ideas including vegan and vegetarian meals and different fruits to be included for puddings.
School Council 2022 to 2023
Year 1
Robin - Millie and Harry
Otter - Rosie C and Saul
Year 2
Hedgehog - Sophie and Zachary
Fox - Erin and James
Frog - Tilly and Theo
May 19th 2023
The School Council are going to the Governors’ Meeting next Thursday to talk about what they have been doing. Today we met to discuss and plan what we would say to them and who would present each part.
March 29th 2023
Today, PCSO Sarah came to school to look at parking outside school with the School Council. The School Council came in early, put their high vis vests on and stood with Sarah to check that no-one was parking on the double yellow lines or zig-zags.
Sadly, there were some cars that pulled up on the zig-zags right in front of PCSO Sarah and the School Council and Sarah had to speak to them and give the driver one of the special parking notices designed by children at Bishops Waltham Infant School. The School Council couldn’t believe that adults would put children in danger by doing this!
The School Council are going to make Sarah some new signs and meet with her again after the Easter holidays.
March 24th 2023
The School Council are looking forward to meeting with PCSO Sarah next Wednesday to talk about parking outside school. They are keen to ask her why she thinks some grown-ups park on the yellow zigzags as they are there to help keep children safe when they cross the road outside school.
We looked at some questionnaires about children’s wellbeing and the School Council really liked the one with faces on it to tick how you are feeling. Mrs. Charles is going to work on this and talk to the teachers and Mrs Riches about it.
We talked about the ‘Peace and Quiet’ areas in each classroom and whether it would be helpful to have a box of activities there. The School Council had lots of ideas of things to put in, including spot the difference, I spy, Lego and puzzle books. Mrs Charles will start working on this over the Easter holidays ready for next term.
Lastly, we went to look at the ‘Peace and Quiet’ areas and make sure there was one in each class which there was. Our favourite one was Fox Class which has a super comfy hideaway under a table!
March 3rd 2023
Results of the Red Nose Day Vote!
1st – Dress down day – 110 votes
2nd – Mad hair day – 45 votes
3rd – Wear a certain colour – 27 votes
So, March 17th is a dress down day and there is a JustGiving page set up to make donations for Comic Relief.
Roger and Gary from The Men’s Shed kindly came to school this week to put up the bird boxes and bug hotel they made for us. The School Council showed Mrs Charles where they all were in the grounds and School Councillor, Sophie has offered to write a thank you letter to the Men’s Shed.
Theo’s letter to PCSO Sarah has been shared on Winchester Police’s Facebook page as she was so impressed with it! He had a lovely letter back from Sarah, offering to come and talk to the School Council and do some patrols with them outside school to encourage adults to only park in safe places. She is coming to school on March 29th to do this and will also come back to talk to the whole school about her job.
Mrs Charles has talked to Mrs Riches about using the pond and we have planned a staff meeting to talk to the teachers about when we are all going to start pond dipping.
February 24th 2023
Today we have been talking about Red Nose Day which is on March 17th. The School Council are going back to their classes to vote on whether the children would like to wear a certain colour, have a dress down day or a mad hair day!
A little while ago, we asked the Men’s Shed in Bishops Waltham to make us some bird boxes and bug hotels. These have now been delivered and are fantastic. Not only did the Men’s Shed make these for us but they also secured a grant from Meon Valley Lions Club to fund them and are coming back to put them up for us! The Men’s shed are also making us some super signposts to show the distance to different places around the world and where to find different things in our school grounds. Sophie would like to write a thank you letter to the Men’s Shed team.
The School Council are also concerned that even though we have put our new sign up asking adults not to park on the yellow zig-zags, they have seen this still happening. Theo is keen to write to Sarah McCulloch, our local PCSO to ask for help with this.
Erin asked about the pond and when we would be using it. Mrs Charles is going to talk to the teachers about whether they can plan using it in to any of our projects and if we could have special pond days for each class as well. We have enough trays to put our finds in but are still short of nets.
Friday 20th January 2023
Our banner form the Parking Banner Scheme has arrived! The School Council chose the words “Don’t you know the zig zag rule? Please don’t park outside our school!” Look out for it on the railings next to the school gate.
We also chose the pictures for our ‘peace and quiet’ areas in our classrooms. There were two that got lots of the votes, so we will give the teachers both to choose from. Look out for them in the classrooms soon.
Friday January 6th 2023
Today we looked at the answers to the questions that the School Council asked their classmates about their emotional health and wellbeing in school.
1. Where in your classroom would be a good place for some peace and quiet, especially if we are feeling sad, upset or worried?
Everyone wanted a special place in their class and had lots of ideas. Mrs Charles will make some signs to show where they are in each class.
2. Would you like to have a special feelings buddy in your class or possibly in another class?
Most children would and a few wouldn’t. Mainly, children would like a buddy in their class but some would like one in another class. Mrs Charles will talk to the teachers about arranging this.
3. Would you like a special book about how to manage your feelings for your classroom?
Yes! Mrs Charles will organise this.
- We then looked at some playground signs about emotions and chose some new things to put up in the playground.
- Lastly, School Council chose the words to put on a banner from the Parking Banner Scheme to encourage adults not to park on the yellow zig-zags outside school.
“Don’t you know the zig zag rule? Please don’t park outside our school!”
Friday 9th December 2022
We met today and revisited what we do in school to support children’s health and wellbeing and added in some more things. The Councillors also had some new ideas which they will discuss with their classes. Mrs Charles has put the bench back in front of the Friendship Stop as requested! Next meeting, we will look at some ideas for feelings signs for the playground.
Friday 18th November 2022
We loved dressing up for Children in Need and raised a fantastic £330. Chloe in Year 1 won the ‘Fuzzy’ the bear, he will love his new home!
Tuesday 8th November 2022
The School Council dressed up in their outfits for Children in Need day in assembly to show the rest of the school what they could wear. Mrs Charles talked about what we would be doing on the day. We are having a ‘name the bear’ competition which you can enter for £1, doing a Joe Wickes workout and wearing pyjamas for Pudsey in exchange for a donation.
Wednesday 2nd November 2022
We had a very busy meeting today because there were lots of things to catch up on and talk about.
Tomorrow, the School Council are coming to the Governors’ meeting to introduce themselves and talk about what they have been doing this term. We prepared for this and everyone has got something to talk about or show.
Next Tuesday, the Councillors are helping Mrs Charles with an assembly to explain Children in Need and introduce our fundraising ideas.
Lastly, the Councillors discussed what adults do in school to help with children’s mental health and wellbeing. This included what children would do if they were worried about something, how they are helped and encouraged to feel confident and how they learn about feelings
Friday 30th September 2022
On Wednesday, the School Councillors were all ready to speak to visitors at our Open Morning but no-one had any questions for them! We will look at how we can make sure they can tell new parents and children about our school.
The Councillors will be attending our next Governors’ meeting on Thursday November 3rd to introduce themselves and talk about what they are working on.
We discussed Children in Need which is on Friday 18th November. Councillors are asking their classes for fundraising ideas this week.
Mrs Charles talked to the School Council about the School Strategic Plan and explained that this is how we choose things to work on to make our school an even better place to learn. We will be looking at the development area ‘To further strengthen children’s wellbeing and confidence.’
The Councillors talked about how they help children if they are feeling unsure in the morning and that they think this is because they are nervous, feeling a bit poorly or might miss parents or their brothers and sisters. Councillors all agreed that ‘school is good because teachers and grownups help you.’
Councillors love the Worry Box in each class and know that adults check them and talk to children who have put something in the box. They are also enjoying Trickbox which teaches them ways to manage their feelings, build confidence and overcome challenges.
Mrs Charles will continue to work on this with the School Council and they are helping her with the Wellbeing Policy.
Friday 23rd September 2022
The School Council were all here today, so we had our first official meeting! Everyone got their badges and we discussed the jobs and responsibilities that the School Council have.
Our first important job is next week when we will be helping at the Open Morning by talking to our visitors and answering questions. Mrs Charles helped us get ready by practising what we might say when we are asked about our school.
We have also started talking about how we will raise money to Support Children in Need on Friday 18th November.
School Council 2021 to 2022
Year 1
Squirrel - Scarlett-Rose and Ben
Robin - Lexie and Sam
Otter - Charlotte and Alfie
Year 2
Hedgehog - Emily and William
Fox - Bella and Finley
Frog - Wren and Freddie
September 21st 2021
We had our first School Council meeting. Mrs. Charles took our photographs for the School Council board. Miss Meek is making us our special badges and we will get them soon.
October 5th 2021
We had a look at the area outside each class in Year 1 and 2. Everyone needs some new play equipment and somewhere to store it. Year 2 School Councillors really liked the big construction and builders trays that Year 1 have got!
November 19th is Children in Need and we started planning what we might do to raise money this year.
School Councillors are going back to their classes to gather ideas for outside play equipment and fundraising ideas.
October 12th 2021
We looked through all the ideas for new play equipment outside the classes, there were some super suggestions! We are going to write to the PTA to see if they will help pay for some new things for each year group.
There were also great ideas for ways to raise money for Children in Need. Mrs. Charles will talk to Mrs. Riches about which ones we could do on the 19th November.
October 19th 2021
Today we have planned our Children in Need day.
- Children can wear their choice of fancy dress for the day and bring some money to donate.
- We will do the Joe Wicks 5 Minute Move workout to get energised for the day!
- There will be a cake sale after school. Please can everyone's grown ups donate some cakes on the day?
- The School Council and Mrs. Charles will present a special assembly before November 19th to let all the children know what is happening on the day.
Some of the School Councillors have written to the PTA to ask if they can let them have some money to but new play equipment for outside the classrooms.
November 3rd 2021
We met to talk about Children in Need. Children will be dressing up in their choice of fancy dress, bringing in a donation and completing a Joe Wick's 5 Minute Move. Unfortunately, we are not able to have a cake sale again this year as we think everyone will get a bit too close together trying to buy all the yummy cakes! Fingers crossed for next year.
School Councillors worked really hard to create some fantastic posters to tell all the children and adults about Children in Need.
November 9th 2021
Today we held our Children in Need assembly to explain about what we are doing next week to fundraise for this charity which helps children all over the UK. Mrs Charles explained what 'fundraise' and 'charity' mean and each class chose one of the super posters that School Council made last week
In our meeting this afternoon, we talked about being part of the Bishops Waltham community and how the school joins in with community events such as the carnival and Christmas shopping night. This year the Bishops Waltham Town Team have given us some fantastic plastic baubles for each child to fill and decorate. These will be displayed in the shops in Bishops Waltham and there will also be a competition for the children to enter over the Christmas period. We can't wait to make them!
November 16th 2021
We are all ready for Children in Need on Friday! Mrs Charles has sent a message out to parents about dressing up, the posters are up in the classroom windows and there is a reminder on the website.
Mrs Charles has sent our letters to the PTA asking for some money for equipment and we are waiting to hear back from them.
We are hoping to work with the Parish Council on some environmental projects in school. They are meeting next week and will contact us afterwards. Finley suggested that we might be able to help by doing some litter picking. Great idea, Finley!
William would like to look at ways of encouraging children to have a healthy lifestyle, eating 5 a day (fruit and vegetables), drinking water and doing more exercise. We will explore these ideas further.
November 19th 2021
We had a fantastic Children in Need day. Everyone looked great in their fancy dress and loved working out with Joe Wicks. Thank you to all the parents and carers for their donations, we raised £261.
School Council 2019 - 2020
Fox Class - Daniel and Evie
Hedgehog Class - Archie and Tegan
Robin Class - Alex and Beatrice
Squirrel - Jack and Florence
Otter Class - Logan and Evie
September 20th 2019
We met for the first time today as School Councillors. Mrs Charles took our photographs and gave us our badges. We each talked about why we thought we would make good School Councillors and some of the things we will be doing this year.
October 4th 2019
Today, we discussed Children in Need and how the school could raise money to help on Friday 15th November.
We have decided to:
-Dress in something spotty for a donation. It doesn't have to be a whole outfit, just one thing.
-Have a cake sale after school.
-Guess the number of ? in a jar to win a prize.
Councillors are going to ask their classes for ideas of what to put in a jar.
The School Council will also let children know about Children in Need in a special assembly.
First Aid Training - This year, we are trying to work with more people in our community. Meon Valley Heartstart have kindly said they will come into school on October 15th to give our Year 1 children some first aid training. The Year 2 children are also keen to do this!
Science and Maths Shed - School Council have noticed that the equipment is not being looked after properly. They will help keep an eye on this. Year 2 Councillors also said that some of the Year 2 children have applied for and been given the job of looking after the shed. I will speak to them and Year 2 teachers.
October 11th 2019
Classes would like to guess the number of sweets in the jar for Children in Need. Daniel and Evie have offered to write a letter to some local shops to ask for a donation of sweets.
We will organise a cake sale and each class will be asked to make some posters to organise it. Please can Councillors ask if anyone in their family could help and Mrs Charles will ask all parents/carers if anyone can help out.
Assembly - we will hold an assembly on October 22nd to tell children about Children in Need. All councillors will have something to say!
Miss Salter has said Year 2 can do first aid training in December, so we will organise this!
Maths and Science Shed - Mrs Charles has sorted the equipment and bought some new things. Mrs Charles and Mrs Moth will hold an assembly on Tuesday 15th October to talk about how to use the boxes and look after them.
We are very excited to hear that Mrs Mills will be giving us the new school lunch menu soon and we will be tasting some of the new food from it!
October 18th 2019
We met to plan and rehearse our Children in Need assembly for next week. School Councillors will be leading the assembly next Tuesday!
October 22nd 2019
The School Council led an assembly to tell the rest of the school about what Bishops Waltham Infant school is doing to raise money for Children in Need. Well done School Council, you were amazing!
November 15th 2019
CHILDREN IN NEED 2019
Well done everyone - we raised an amazing....
£638.48!
This is the most we have ever collected.
A big thank you to all the parents and carers for super spotty outfits and for your support in our fundraising cake sale and guess the sweets in the jar competition. The sweets and Pudsey were won by Hector in Year 2.
November 28th 2019
We met to plan our next three projects.
- Working with PCSO Sarah on parking outside school.
2. What we like about our school and what we would like to change or improve.
3. A Health and Safety review of the school and grounds.
January 17th 2020
The School Council carried out a Health and Safety walk with Mrs Riches and Mrs Palmer to check that the school building and grounds were safe. They looked at the playground and equipment, trees and that the fire exits were all clear.
There were some fallen branches after the high winds that needed clearing, a tree that needed checking, fruit on the playground that children could slip on and some rotten wood in the Year R playground. This will all be sorted out soon!
January 24th 2020
PCSO Sarah McCulloch came to school today to check that people were parking sensibly outside school. The children had made leaflets about parking safely to hand out to adults as they walked in. Luckily, there were hardly any problems and everyone was driving sensibly. Thank you.
January 30th 2020
Rory in Year 1 sent the School Council a letter asking if we could explore more environmentally friendly ways of giving children their school milk.. We read his letter in assembly on Tuesday and watched a video about a plastic bottle and other rubbish ending up in the sea and polluting it.
Today, we discussed what we could do in school to help with what Rory has asked. We decided on the following things to try:
- Miss Meek collects the lids from the milk bottles to help the charity Guide Dogs for the Blind, so all classes will save these for her.
- Robin Class have been trialling rinsing and recycling their milk bottles. All classes will now be asked to do this, instead of throwing them in the rubbish bin.
- Rabbit Class are going to trial using metal straws instead of plastic ones.
- Each class will be given a poster to remind them what to do with their milk bottles and lids.
February 28th 2020
Today we checked that the children are remembering to recycle their milk bottles and that the teachers have put their posters up about what to do. Everyone reported that all classes are doing this.
On Tuesday we started the Eat Them to Defeat Them campaign to encourage children to eat more vegetables and be healthy. Everyone was very excited about this and all said they had enjoyed eating more carrots this week and were looking forward to trying lots of other vegetables. Mrs Moss, our school cook has done a great job chopping and grating carrots in lots of different ways. We loved her scary carrot person as well! Each class is being invited to submit entries to a poster competition linked to the campaign.
Lastly, we have had a letter from the Parish Council and are looking forward to working with them on the environment and climate change and what we can do to help where we live.
March 6th 2020
We have had some fantastic 'Eat Them to Defeat Them' posters from Year2 this week. A winner will be chosen shortly to go forward to the national competition. School Councillors say they are still enjoying eating lots of different vegetables but Alex wondered if next year it could focus on fruit instead of vegetables.
A meeting has been arranged for March 27th with Bishops Waltham Parish Councillors to discuss environmental issues and make a plan to help our environment. We have a big list to share with the Councillors about what we already do and our new ideas for school and Bishops Waltham.
