Unity amongst Community - a look at our Senior School Pupil Council

The Senior School Pupil Council aims to reflect the views of all Senior School pupils. It engages in lively discussion on topics raised by the pupils about life at Watson’s. Members meet regularly together with a full meeting each month. The Pupil Council has several sub-groups including the Eco Group and the Sports Council. 

The Council is chaired by the Deputy School Captains and is made up of two Year Representatives from each year group from S1–S5, the other Senior Office Bearers (School Captains and both Heads of S6), two members of the Senior School staff and the Head of Senior School. The Catering Manager and Facilities Manager join part of each monthly meeting to discuss service issues. 

Monthly meetings are minuted and posted on the Senior School Pupil Council noticeboard, the intranet, whilst also being discussed at year group meetings. This allows pupils across the Senior School to contribute to proposed developments, encouraging a sense of unity amongst the Watson’s community.

Kate and Farhan, our Deputy School Captains, have been collaborating with the Eco Committee, Sports Reps and Year Reps to establish this year’s Pupil Council Campaigns - from building further on Pupil Voice action to encouraging Sustainability in our daily lives.

Current council members, Sofya (S2), Aden (S3), Azzam (S4) and Chiara (S5) discussed the campaigns further, explaining the importance of decisions made to better the pupil body:

“The Pupil Council has to make sure everyone in the school has the opportunity to share opinions and ideas with us. We want to implement a relay system between pupils, Form Captains and Year Reps to make sure as many voices are heard. We also want to arrange for more enjoyable collective events between staff and pupils and collaboration opportunities between the wider Watson’s community. For example, being more involved with the Junior School and contributing to the National Conservation of Scottish Education.”
- Azzam (S4)

“A second priority for this year is to continue to help the school become more environmentally friendly by concentrating on sustainability. Some of the ways we aim to do this are by decreasing meat consumption and controlling our CO2 emissions and energy usage.”
- Chiara (S5)

“The third thing we will campaign for is to celebrate diversity by strongly encouraging and supporting activities and discussions about identity.”
- Sofya (S2)

“And finally, another one of our initiatives is mental health and wellbeing. We, as a school, believe this is an important issue that cannot be overlooked. That is why we want to increase opportunities for everybody in the GWC community to be able to seek help. This may come in the form of one on one sessions, group discussions or pupil led groups. I would encourage anyone struggling, unsure or wanting more information about their mental health to attend the appropriate sessions.”
- Aden (S3) 

Mr Gordon Boyd, Head of the Senior School, commended pupils across the board, saying:

“The work of the Pupil Council is very important as we work together to make our school better and better. Each session, I am more and more impressed by the commitment and confidence of Year Reps. I’m excited to see what will be achieved through this year’s campaigns.” 

The Senior School Pupil Council allows pupils to have a voice, develop the confidence to use that voice and trust they can make a difference in improving practices within the Watson’s community - both now and in future.