Pupil Voice
As a school we truly value the views and opinions of our pupils. We have four pupil voice groups, who (when not under Covid social restrictions) meet on a weekly basis:
- School Learning Council
- HUGG Club
- Eco Team
- Digital Leaders
- Wellbeing Club
School Learning Council
School Learning Council meet weekly to discuss and plan their next steps. We have representatives from each class from Year 3 to Year 6.School Learning Council plays an important role at Duston Eldean Primary School. They have been busy over the past year focusing on one of our key threads, 'Diversity'. As a group, we look at the world around us and upcoming events we would like to celebrate as a whole school. This year, we are looking to focus on our key thread of ‘Exploration’ and promote more opportunities for children to explore the world around us.
School Learning Council achievements to Date
- To celebrate Chinese New Year, we packed red envelops for everyone with a golden coin in and explained to our classes this is a symbol of good luck.
- We celebrated St Patricks Day by learning how to Irish dance and made 'Shamrock packs' for children to plant at home. We made our own instructions and packaging for the seeds.
- We celebrated women in sports by focusing on a different sport each week. Then, we developed these sporting skills on the field by helping children with organising a game and helping to break down each skill.
- For Diwali, we made Diva Lamp packs and explained to each class how they are a symbol of good luck and where they should be placed at home.
- As the months got colder, we hosted a Christmas Quiz. We had lots of different rounds such as ‘All About Santa’ and ‘Guess the Character’.
- We have been busy after school raising money to buy new resources for children to use at lunch times, along with cleaning our current resources.
The HUGG Club
The HUGG Club is responsible for promoting our Huge Unbelievable Great Goal of being more kind and thoughtful. The children from Year 3 to Year 6 meet weekly, planning activities and discussing how to make kindness and thoughtfulness at the heart of the school.
HUGG Club achievements to date:
- Organised fundraising events including Children in Need and Comic Relief
- Updated our Friendship and Anti-bullying Policy
- Sold poppies to our school community for Remembrance Day
- Made and delivered Christmas cards to local businesses
- Led a whole school assembly in Anti-bullying week
- Selected a song about kindness for the whole school to learn
The Eco-Team
ECO CODE - WE CARE FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT
The Eco team meet weekly to discuss progress and plan their next steps. We are always looking for new ways to make our school more environmentally friendly. If you can help us in any way, especially on our allotment or in our nature area, please contact the school.
Eco-Team achievements to Date
- Designed and created a new Eco mascot for the school called ‘Eco Elephant’.
- Put up posters around the school reminding everyone about switching off lights, closing doors, turning off interactive whiteboards, turning off taps and recycling paper.
- Tidied the greenhouse area ready for a new polytunnel to be installed.
- Weeded and tidied the ‘Rainbow Garden’.
- Litter picked around the school grounds and by the local shops.
- Set up and monitored the litter picking rota for classes.
Digital Leaders
The Digital Leaders are an elected group of KS2 children who help to lead the focus of our ONLINE safety policy throughout the school. Through discussions with each year group, leading whole school assemblies and weekly meetings; they identify and implement positive change to ensure that all children know how to safely navigate themselves online and know what to do in the event something wrong happens.
The digital leaders wanted to introduce an acronym to help remind everyone of strategies to help them keep safe online. They decided on 6 key behaviours they felt were the most helpful and worked on a memorable word to tie them altogether. ONLINE seemed to fit nicely as it would help children to remember each letter as they are online. After making the acronym, the digital leaders created a child-friendly policy and placed them in every classroom. They also worked with a local graphic designer to create the look for ONLINE. They placed emojis linked to the behaviours in each letter and these are now displayed in every class and on school devices. For EYFS and KS1, they made a video to explain each behaviour. This is shown in their reflection time. 
The Wellbeing Team
The Wellbeing Team is responsible for promoting wellbeing and mental health throughout the school. Wellbeing representatives, from Year 3 to Year 6, meet weekly to plan activities and discuss whole-school approaches to supporting children’s emotional wellbeing.
Wellbeing Team achievements to date:
- Created wellbeing boxes for each class with resources to support emotional wellbeing
- Introduced speak-out boxes for children to share any concerns or worries with their teacher
- Created an interactive display for children to access when they are feeling a particular emotion
- Held wellbeing sessions to teach children breathing and grounding techniques
- Promoted Children’s Mental Health Week by creating activities for the whole school
- Sold raffle tickets to raise money for a pupil’s physiotherapy and created a wellbeing hamper for a staff member to win
- Made 12 days of wellbeing challenges, in the countdown to Christmas, for each class to complete
- Helped to raise money for Children in Need and organised a 'spotacular challenge' for the children to complete within their classes
Maths Ambassadors
Maths Ambassadors are children who have been selected by their class for showing a passion and love for maths. These pupils (from Year 1 to 6) meet on a weekly basis to discuss ideas and plan for events. They help to get people talking about maths and develop a belief that everyone can be a great mathematician. They help to organise fun events and workshops for parents. They are active in evaluating the maths in our school and suggest ideas for development.
Health and Safety Ambassadors
Health and Safety Ambassadors are children, from Year 6, who have been selected by their class teachers for showing an interest in working to keep our school safe. These pupils meet on a weekly basis to discuss ideas and plan for events. They help to plan for and monitor fire drills and lockdown drills. They complete regular health and safety walks to check for issues. They are a dedicated team who help to disseminate important health and safety messages to the whole school community.