There was an excited buzz in the air recently as our annual Portsmouth Student Voice Celebration (USVC) Day for 2022 took place at the University of Portsmouth’s Portland Building. It’s a great opportunity each year for young people from across the area to come together and celebrate having a voice in society, and the impact and positive change that voice can create.
This year the institutions involved in this year’s Council of Portsmouth Students (CoPS) and Primary Council of Portsmouth Students (PCoPS) were invited to attend, along with Admiral Lord Nelson School, Ark Charter Academy, Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, Cottage Grove Primary School, Mayville High School, Miltoncross Academy, Priory School, St John’s College Secondary, The Portsmouth Academy, and Trafalgar School sending participants to the event!
Our Unloc Facilitator Jessi Wilson was kind enough to talk us through the day and explain all the fun and diverse opportunities the young people engaged with on the day.
“Each year we bring together so many young people from institutions across the city, and there’s always such an excited buzz in the air for this event. To kickstart the day this year, our Managing Director Hayden Taylor spoke about ‘Standing up for what you believe in’, which really got everyone ready for the day ahead.
This was followed by a speech from the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, Councillor Hugh Mason.
“The world is changing fast, and it keeps on changing; the city is changing, and you are part of changing it – you are the people who choose the direction. I want to live in a vibrant city – you are the people to do it.”
Lord Mayor of Portsmouth Cllr Hugh Mason
The Vice-Chairperson of CoPS, Tegan, then read a statement from Luke, the Chairperson, and then her own speech, saying that “Student voice is so important to have within schools, allowing students to express their voice is so important to allow a positive atmosphere and can easily help to make easy but big improvements around our city and our schools.”
Lastly, we heard from Jack from Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, who was invited to speak on behalf of Primary CoPS. Jack spoke about “when we work together our voices get stronger and louder and we have the power to make changes happen.”
Each group from PCoPS and CoPS gave a presentation – an opportunity for the groups to share their successes over the academic year! Read the USVC Day 2022: A Report/Summary for more details by clicking here.
It was brilliant to see a summary of all the amazing work each group has completed during our time together over the past 12 months, and to celebrate their successes! I am immensely proud of all of the CoPS and PCoPS students.
An ‘In Conversation With…’ segment, with the focus on ‘the importance of Student Voice’, had a panel made up of current MYPs Destiny Kenney and Ella Reilly, and member of the MYP Working Group (and CoPS Diversity and Inclusion Action Group Leader) Sakura, with questions facilitated by Joseph, who was on Work Experience at Unloc and had been a member of CoPS last year!
Portsmouth City Council ran several consultations throughout the day, providing the participants with the opportunity to give their thoughts and opinions on issues, policies and plans that are /or will affect where they live and study in the future. These sessions included:
‘Waste & Recycling in Portsmouth’
Led by Celine, the group were told about all the new initiatives that Portsmouth City Council have and are introducing in the city to make recycling and getting rid of household waste more accessible for residents.
‘Schools for Everyone’
A sesion led by Caiomhe and Amanda, which discussed ‘what do we do in schools already to make it inclusive?’, and ‘how do we become more inclusive?’. An important topic to make sure that inclusion and diversity is always a priority in schools.
’The Future of Portsmouth City Centre’
Led by Sara and Guy, this session was a great opportunity for the young people to learn about the improvements currently being made to Portsmouth and the future plans to redevelop the city centre and provide an exciting destination for residents and tourism alike.
‘Play & Youth Holiday Activities’ consultation
Attended by the PCoPS students and led by Marshada, Nicola and their team. The participants were asked to consider happy and positive memories they had and created graffiti tables. These were linked to what they like to do in holidays and what they were aware of as opportunities in Portsmouth, such as play areas and activities.
The CoPS students then attended one of three workshops available, based on the Action Group they had been involved in throughout the year:
‘An Introduction to Kooth’
Led by Alice, this was a very valuable session for the young people; they had an introduction to Kooth, a totally free online mental wellbeing community, and were given a guide on how to use the website and get support.
For more information on Kooth click here.
A Workshop led by Emily and colleagues from LGBTQ+ Team Portsmouth was also held for older students, where the session started with representatives introducing themselves and the service they provide from within Portsmouth City Council. For more information on the support they offer click here.
‘Team Wilder’
Led by Andy Ames from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust – this session involved an open discussion with the whole group on how to connect people emotionally with nature and the wildlife around them.
For more information Team Wilder click here.
It has been a genuine pleasure to work with all of the students in CoPS and PCoPS this year! I am so looking forward to continuing to develop both forums and enhance students’ experience and journey within Student Voice in Portsmouth.”
To find out more about this year’s event, click here to read our 2022: A Report/Summary
