One of the joys of being a school governor at Colston’s is hearing the opinions of so many children about the school. The governors recently met with over 30 children, from Reception to Year 6, to ask them questions about aspects of school life, in order to check that the published School Aims are being reflected in our pupils.
I am happy to report that they are, and I thought you might like to hear some of the things said. We asked a group of Reception children if they were happy coming to school. One girl replied ‘I am happy because I have many friends and lots of things to do’. When asked what they did if someone wasn’t happy another added ‘I would give them a hug’. A third said he liked school because ‘we have lots of certificates, even for things like athletics and being good’.
The Year 1 and 2 children were asked about ways they could make a difference to their community: they talked about being kind and helpful, listening to others, being kind in the playground, being kind to people who've hurt themselves, owning up to mistakes and that 'differences don't matter'. One child said 'school is special because of all the different languages and different coloured skin'. Another talked about how it was good that everyone looked different as it would be very boring and very confusing if we all looked the same.
We asked children in Years 3 and 4 about their approach to work, and trying new things; ‘I’d have a go’, ‘I’d see what it’s like’ and ‘Yes, if it’s a change from numeracy and literacy’ all showed a positive attitude. They liked working in groups because ‘I like helping and if I get stuck people will help me’, and they seem to enjoy their spelling tests, although one noted that ‘I’m excited when I’ve learnt them properly but not when I haven’t’.
Years 5 and 6 were asked about challenging ideas and challenging what their teacher and classmates said. They thought you get “more variety of answers” if you challenge ideas and they felt they could say if they thought something was not quite right. They felt encouraged to try things out. Children said they sometimes wanted to do it in a different way to that being taught. One said that “sometimes it’s good to challenge things – either you learn or they learn”.
All of the Governors remarked that the groups interviewed were polite and respectful of each others opinions, and seemed really pleased to be asked their opinion. Although it only provides a snapshot of school life, we concluded that the picture we saw was one of happy, respectful, co-operative, and motivated learners.
Rob Davies - Parent Governor
