Opportunities to Lead

We know that giving children leadership opportunities helps us to create a community of successful learners. Not only are leadership skills such as organisation, communication and teamwork enhanced, but leadership also develops confidence and self-esteem and when children feel good about themselves learning follows. 

There are leadership opportunities for children throughout the school, from being register monitors and messengers supported by a teaching assistant in the Early Years Foundation Stage, to being milk monitors and House Captains in Years 5 and 6.

Here are some of the important leadership roles we have within our school:

School Council

Our brilliant School Council are a proactive, community-minded bunch, who enjoy making a difference. They comprise of children from Year 1 to Year 6, duly elected to their positions following exciting hustings and elections in September. Our School Council meets once a term, although are often called upon between meetings to carry out additional responsibilities, such as contributing to school policies, taking around visitors or involvement in recruitment.

The School Council is comprised of: 

The Chair (Responsible for running the meetings and following the agenda)

The Vice-Chair (Helps the chair run meetings)

The Secretary (Takes the minutes and distributes minutes to classes; a copy of the minutes are available to view on the Leadership Noticeboard)

The Publicist (Writes articles for The Hoot and other publications)

There are also two School Councillors for the Hawks and two School Councillors representing the Kestrels and Eagles. 

In 2023-204, the School Council organised a house singing competition, amongst lots of other intiiatives. This is Mars in action!

House Captains

We have four house teams: Mars, Neptune, Saturn and Jupiter. Leading  each of our houses are our House Captains. House Captains are responsible for a number of things including representing their houses in Celebration Assembly when house points and attendance are celebrated. The winning House Captains love pinning up the house point totals on their display and tying their house's ribbons onto the House Cups at the end of each term. 

House Captains also help to support their team when the school splits into cross-phase house groups for special activities such as during World Book Day or Enrichment Week. The highlight of the year for House Captains is our annual Sports Day when they carry their house banner and lead their team up to the field for a morning of friendly competition!

Helping Hands

Our Owls class participate in peer mediation training which helps them to acquire assertiveness skills needed to support others to solve minor disagreements peacefully. Throughout the school, we encourage children to develop peaceful conflict resolution skills and to use an 'I-statement' to solve their problems. Peer mediation training enhances these skills. Our Helping Hands, on a rota basis, support the Play Team staff at lunchtime ensuring that the younger children have happy playtimes. They also help to clear the lunchtime tables and chairs. Mrs Stafford and Mrs Boulton keep a close eye on how things are going and check in regularly with our Helping Hands to discuss any issues. 

Wellbeing Leaders

Our Wellbeing Leaders are trained by our Mental Health Lead, Mrs Carter, in Year 4. They are there to support children at playtimes find positive things to do. They have lots of ideas and activities, organised around the Five Ways to Wellbeing, from mindfulness routines to colouring, to active games. They do a brilliant job - and also enjoy giving out certificates to children who demonstrate our Avening values in our Celebration Assemblies. 

Reading Buddies

Our Reading Buddy initiative was reestablished in Summer 2024, when the School Council asked for Reading Buddies at lunchtime. This involves volunteers from the Owls class taking a box of books and a rug onto the playground once a week so that they can read stories to the younger children. As you can imagine, this is very popular and the children love to spend time with one another in the quiet areas of the playgrounds. 

The School Council also made book recommendations in our weekly newletter, The Hoot. Here is Elizabeth with a very special book recommendation, as it features her sister who is a wing-walker!

Mini-Police

During 2023-2024, our Year 5 children worked with Gloucestershire PCSOs and trained to become mini-police. They learnt about anti-social behaviour, online safety and community work, and were involved with litter-picking and positive parking initiatives. During lunchtimes, they made sure that everyone was safe. We hope to work with the police again in 2024-2025.