02 Getting Involved in the

Activity Guide Wider Community

School Councils UK
What is the wider Community? smaller group, a few members of the
All school councils will spend time council as well as interested students
discussing and dealing with issues from rest of the school, will take the
within the school such as food, lead on developing how to get
behaviour and facilities. Some are also involved with the community.
concerned with things happening
Getting the picture:
outside the school gates, as these will
A good place to start is asking people
affect pupils who are themselves part
in school who they see as making up
of the wider community.
the community; and where in that
The wider community includes people community they would like to get
who may not be directly involved with involved.
school, such as:
Some ways this could be done is
• Families of pupils
through class council meetings,
assemblies and suggestion boxes,
• Local residents questionnaires or online polls. The
• Local businesses school council can ask people from
the community to run assemblies or
• Other local schools talks to give people ideas.
• Care Homes Examples of issues to get people
• Community groups thinking are:
• Police
• Swimming pool or cinema too
• Local Council expensive
• Member of Parliament • Poor bus service, especially in the
evening
We can also look at the community in
terms of issues, especially those • Bad street lighting
concerning pupils. These include • Police harassing groups of young
crime, transport, leisure facilities and people
the environment.
• Young people being treated unfairly
Why bother with getting by shopkeepers
involved?
In all areas, schools play a central role
• Fear of crime creating no-go areas
in their community and those within • Taxi drivers refuse to pick up
and outside the school can benefit young people
from working together. The citizenship
curriculum reflects the importance of
Putting ideas into action:
Once the subcommittee has decided
schools engaging with the wider
what they want to achieve, they can
community, and many ideas for
make contact with relevant people.
projects can be found within the
Writing letters on school council
schemes of work.
headed paper are a polite
The reputation of a school will be introduction, asking for a meeting to
enhanced through its pupils’ explore the areas where you can work
involvement in community projects, together.
School Councils UK and pupils can benefit from obtaining
Some organisations such as the
108-110 Camden High Street, qualifications such as ASDAN awards,
police may have a person dedicated
London NW1 0LU Millennium Volunteers or CSV.
to schools and education for you to
0845 456 9428
info@schoolcouncils.org How can the School Council contact. Research online will normally
www.schoolcouncils.org help? help you find the right person to talk
Effective school councils act as the to.
mouthpiece for the whole school. You may wish to ask members of the
The school council can create a community to support the school.
community subcommittee. This This can be done in a number of
ways:

© School Councils UK 2005. Please feel free to reproduce this resource with acknowledgement (non-commercial use only)
 • Collecting supermarket vouchers, • Volunteering for community
Activity Guide
School Councils UK
drop off points for vouchers in projects (many of these, e.g.
doctors surgeries, child care Millennium Volunteers, need you to
centres or community clubs. be over 16 years old)
• Volunteers to help pupils with As with all school council projects,
aspects of teaching and learning in effective meetings and action points
school or homework clubs. mean that people know what they
• Appeals for help with school have to do, when they have to do it
facilities and equipment- check the and how to do it.
school development plan for ideas
about what is needed. Keep in Mind:
• To keep your link teacher up to
The school can support the date on all events. Don’t forget that
community in the following ways. teachers, senior management,
• Fundraising for local causes. parents and governors should be
consulted too.
• Raising awareness in school,
through newsletters or lessons- • Its fun to be active! Find something
working with staff to find relevant you really care about in your area
curricula cross over with and make a difference – whilst
community projects. having enjoying yourself and
helping others.

Useful Contact Details

Volunteering www.yearofthevolunteer.org (2005)
www.timebank.org.uk
Neighbourhood www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ican
schemes www.communitymatters.org.uk
Other schools School Councils Network. www.schoolcouncils.org
Members of www.locata.co.uk/commons
Parliament SCOTLAND www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp
WALES www.wales.gov.uk/who/constit_e.htm
NORTHERN IRELAND www.niassembly.gov.uk
Care Homes www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/hss/index.asp
Local Council www.nameofcouncil.gov.uk
Residents groups www.tpas.org.uk
www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk
Police www.police.uk

School Councils UK Connexions www.connexions-direct.com (England Only)

108-110 Camden High Street, Local Initiatives Regional Coordination Unit www.rcu.gov.uk
London NW1 0LU
0845 456 9428
Healthy Schools www.lhsp.org to get local contacts
info@schoolcouncils.org Awards www.millenniumvolunteers.gov.uk
www.schoolcouncils.org
www.asdan.co.uk
Funding www.awardsforall.org.uk/
www.volunteering.org.uk

© School Councils UK 2005. Please feel free to reproduce this resource with acknowledgement (non-commercial use only)