We've just sent our first approved proposal to our school!! It's so exciting and we can't wait to see how the teachers,children and families will respond to it! We've spent the last two meetings drafting, editing and finalising how we wanted our idea to be submitted for approval and presented to each class.  We also spent some time mapping out the logic's of our suggestion.  It's currently a work in progress so stay tuned.........

We had our second meeting today and it felt like we had found a natural, respectful and productive way to go about our business already! We just seemed to get into a lovey groove so to speak!  M from 4th class was eager to share her feedback from her class, A and A (representing 5th) told us all their ideas on possible future events we could organise, A in 4th came up with some fabulous suggestions we could do instead of the previous end of term discos. The rest of the gang had lots to say too!  

We have a few ideas in the pipeline so......watch this space!

Today the SC met for the first time as a group in the P.E hall. I had planned to spend a little bit of time having to organise the social distancing seating arrangements (I even brought a metre stick with me) but the children came in and naturally did it themselves!  I'm already loving this group! 
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So today's meeting was just about getting to know each other as a group and having a chat about what the Student Council does. We'll get deeper into the in's and out's of our role and responsibilities over the next couple of weeks. 

Here are some of the answers I received when I asked the children what they
​thought the SC does:

'Plan events for the school'
'Try to make our school a better place'
'Try to make our school more fun'
'Fund raising'
'Make the school better'
'Help people make friends'
'Raise money for P.E, books and toys'
'Make great decisions'
'Toys for the playground'  
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We also spent a little bit of time acknowledging that our usual and staple fundraising activities might not be able to take place this year due to Covid 19, not to get disheartened if our suggestions are not taken up and to relish the challenge/opportunity to be more creative with our ideas! 

On Friday during assembly, Caitríona officially announced the new members of the Student Council.  As Caitríona called out their names, the children representing each class level stood up in front of the camera and waved to the whole school.  

Introducing the Student Council representatives for Emer's and Sarah C's first class.

I had to put in this photo just to show the emotions of being elected. Pride, joy, shock and happiness to name just a few! 

Fair play Andrea on capturing such a special moment for one of the children in our school! 

Over the past few weeks classes from 1st to 5th have been busy electing a representative to become a member of the Student Council for 2020 - 2021.  Students put themselves forward, canvassed to their peers and elections took place across the school.  This year we have 2 representatives from 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th class presiding on the council.  That's 10 members in total.  The results of the election will be announced this week at our Friday assembly and  we will meet every Wednesday as a group. 
I can't spoil the surprise so you'll just have to wait until it is announced to find out who the new members are. 
You can take a look at some of the pictures of the election process though!  

This week our Student Council met with the school's Board of Management. The Student Council presented their proposed design for the school's new logo or crest. The students delivered a professional and clear presentation which explained the process that the school had taken to design the new logo. They also explained what each part of the design represented. After some deliberation, the Board of Management voted and then officially ratified the design as our new school crest! Take a look at some of the photos and videos from this historic moment in our school.  

As this year draws to a close the school community would like to thank the Student Council of 2017/2018 for their commitment to our school this year. They made a great effort to listen to the opinions of all the children in the school. They worked democratically as a group and implemented new initiatives in the school.
They were the first Student Council to set up an induction programme for new pupils. They ran a very successful fundraising day and spent the money raised according to the wishes of the children in the school They assisted the school in their efforts towards achieving the Active Flag by purchasing skipping equipment and setting up a skipping zone in the yard. The school now has a new class set of chess boards. The running track has been repainted as per their request. They have played a crucial  roll in ensuring that the student voice was central in the development of our new school crest.
We are very proud of them and grateful to them for all their hard work! We look forward to welcoming our new Student Council in to their role in September. 

Lot of new children have joined Citywest ETNS this year from other schools and other countries. The Student Council had the very important job of helping the new children settle in to our school. We met them and played some games to help everyone get to know each other then we explained important things  about life in Citywest Educate Together. We also buddied up with new children. Buddies will check in with the new children in the yard or in class to see all is ok with them.

Just before the summer break the children at Citywest elected their new student council for the year 2017-2018. Election week was very exciting for all the children, especially the children who were nominated by their class to run for election. In the end 10 children were voted on to the council. At Citywest ETNS, we value the democratic process and we are so proud of how our school engage  with the process of electing our student council. The children on the council are from 2nd to 5th class. They are thrilled with their positions and looking forward being a voice for all students in Citywest ETNS in the coming year.

Over the past few weeks we have worked very hard to organise a football blitz with the school next door. We got the idea from our suggestion boxes. Each class from 1st - 4th, played football games against the classes next door. The student council members had important jobs like referee, time keeper, goal score keeper, first aid and bibs. We really enjoyed the experience and learned a lot. It was great fun organising an inter-school event with our neighbours.