Welcome to our Pupil Parliament. 

At Witham Oaks Academy, we promote and encourage pupils’ active citizenship and positive contribution to the school and wider community. We offer lots of opportunities for pupils to take on new responsibilities and be involved in successfully supporting the life and work of the school.  These include elected representatives on our School Council where children are responsible for working alongside the School Leadership Team to improve our school.  Older pupils can also apply for positions such as Playground Buddies, House and Sports Captains and Assembly Monitors and Librarians. Within classes, children can volunteer to take on various responsibilities including book monitor and line leader. 

Involving children as volunteers is very empowering:

• It helps them to develop self-confidence
• It promotes self-esteem
• It develops their skills as leaders
• It involves them in making their own decisions
• It gives them a voice in the life and work of the school
• It offers them opportunity to take responsibility
• It enables them to make a positive contribution to the work of the school and wider community
• It helps to prepare them for the challenges and opportunities of adult and working life

Pupils tell us that they enjoy the opportunity to volunteer to help make their school an even better place to be and rising to the challenge that additional responsibility brings.

We respect and value the fundamental British values of democracy and ensure the views and opinions of our pupils are expressed. At the beginning of September, the children elect school council members  from each year group. All pupils are invited to stand as School Council representatives and are voted for fairly and democratically by their peers.