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Unloc has been championing Student Voice since our very first Student Forum back in 2012. Our forums act to help young people across a particular area identify and create action plans, encourage them to network and collaborate together to facilitate and generate more positive changes to their schools, colleges and institutions, and drive improvements in their communities, cities and counties.
Now in 2023, we’ve kickstarted three of our Student Forums: the Cambridgeshire Student Forum (CSF), the Council of Portsmouth Students (CoPS), and the Primary Council of Portsmouth Students (PCoPS). Each forum is bespoke to the area it takes place in, the institutions involved, and the student representatives from those institutions who wholly shape their Forum for the entire year of involvement.
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Up in Cambridgeshire, our Summit was hosted by Long Road Sixth Form College (Cambridge), and attended by students from Long Road as well as Abbey College (Cambridge), Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology, Comberton Village College (Comberton), Hills Road Sixth Form College , St Andrew’s College, and Thomas Clarkson Academy (Wisbech), equating to 40 participants from the 7 institutions.
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Down in Portsmouth, CoPS took place at Trafalgar School in Hilsea, and was attended by students from Trafalgar as well as Admiral Lord Nelson School (Copnor), Ark Charter Academy (Portsmouth), Mayfield School (North End), Mayville High School (Southsea), Miltoncross Academy (Milton), Park Community School (Havant), Portsmouth Grammar School, Priory School (Fratton), Springfield School (Drayton), and The Portsmouth Academy (Fratton), bringing 53 participants from the 11 institutions.
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It’s sister forum, PCoPS also met for the first time, with their Summit taking place within the University of Portsmouth’s Students Union, welcoming students from Cottage Grove Primary School (Southsea), Highbury Primary School (Cosham), King’s Academy College Park (Copnor), Mayville High School (Southsea), Medina Primary School (Cosham), Portsmouth Grammar School, The Flying Bull Academy (Buckland), and Wimborne Primary School (Southsea), with 58 participants from these 8 institutions.
Beacon View Primary Academy (Paulsgrove), Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School (North End), and Court Lane Junior Academy (Cosham) are also involved in PCoPS this year but were unable to attend the Summit and have had/will be having Summit Alternative sessions within their own schools.
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All of the forums were formally introduced to Student Voice, including the UN’s Conventions on the Rights of the Child and our focus on Article 12, ‘Respect for the Views of the Child’:
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“Every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously. This right applies at all times, for example during immigration proceedings, housing decisions or the child’s day-to-day home life” (Source: UNCRC Summary)
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There was dedicated time within all three Summits for the participants to share their thoughts and ideas on Student Voice, including each Institution Group at CSF and CoPS being invited to present to the rest of the group all things Student Voice at their institution, including examples of Student Voice where things had changed or altered in previous years, talking to their School Council, Link Teacher(s) and even their Head Teacher, as well as the consideration of change: what they wanted to change in their institution, community, city or county, and how to go about actioning it.
For PCoPS, in their Institution Groups, they began to formulate plans to bring about their change(s), using posters, flyers and letters to spread the message.
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In CSF and CoPS, the whole group split into Action Groups, a focus to guide them through the rest of their time in the Student Forum, divided by topics, including Business, Careers, Climate Change, Diversity, Eco-Friendly, Inclusion, Life Skills, Mental Health, Technology and Wellbeing. These groups will meet in 2024 to continue to plan their actions to bring about positive change!
To finish the year, each area will have a Student Voice Celebration (SVC) Day in 2024 to share and celebrate all of the (no doubt) amazing work everyone will have done over the course of the year; Cambridgeshire’s SVC Day will take place on Friday 24th May, kindly hosted by Abbey College in Cambridge, and Portsmouth’s SVC Day will be held on Thursday 13th June, bringing together both CoPS and PCoPS!
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For a taste of Student Voice Celebration Day 2023 – Portsmouth Edition click here!
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Interested in further updates?
Contact Jessi Wilson, Programme Facilitator for Leadership Skills and Student Voice at: [email protected]
Unloc has been championing Student Voice since our first Student Forum back in 2012. Our forums are for young people across an area to collaboratively work together to drive school improvement in their community.
The forums celebrate and share good examples of where students can facilitate a positive change to their educational environment. They also act to help young people identify and create an action plan to generate more positive changes in their school, college or institution.
Unloc’s very own Jessi Wilson, Programme Facilitator for Leadership Skills & Student Voice wanted to share her experience at the two recent summits which welcomes young people from across the area:
“The Council of Portsmouth Students (CoPS) and its’ sister forum the Primary Council of Portsmouth Students (PCoPS) are just two of the Student Forums Unloc facilitates in Portsmouth. Each forum is bespoke to the area, the institutions involved, and the student representatives who wholly shape their Forum for the entire year.
This term, both forums have had their first Summit, with all the student participants coming together in person!
The Council of Portsmouth Students Summit
The CoPS Summit took place on Thursday 10th November, kindly hosted by Portsmouth Grammar School at their Playing Fields in Hilsea.
CoPS is proud to have 57 participants from 10 institutions involved in this academic year:
The Primary Council of Portsmouth Students Summit
The PCoPS Summit took place on Thursday 24th November, and was hosted at our Changemaker Studios: Portsmouth space within the Portsmouth Guildhall.
PCoPS is proud to have over 100 participants from 14 institutions involved in this academic year:
Both forums were formally introduced to Student Voice, including the UN’s Conventions on the Rights of the Child and our focus on Article 12: “Respect for the Views of the Child”.
We observed how CoPS and PCoPS has evolved over the years and discussed what to expect from this year ahead and the responsibilities of all of the forum members in their involvement in their respective groups.
There was dedicated time at both Summits for the participants to consider change – what they wanted to change in their institution, community or city, and how to go about actioning that: for CoPS, they formed into five Action Groups:
For PCoPS, they began formulate plans to bring about their change(s), using posters, flyers and letters to spread the message.
For CoPS, the Action Groups will meet up several times over the coming year to work together to bring about their desired changes and improve the city for themselves and other young people. There will also be two more Summits for everyone to come together.
Both CoPS and PCoPS will come together at the end of the academic year for Student Voice Celebration (SVC) day 2023 – a city-wide celebratory event in June to share and celebrate all of the (no doubt) amazing work everyone had done over the course of the year!
Each institution group involved in CoPS/PCoPS for 2022/2023 has been presented a framed certificate to show they are a proud participant and to display this within their institution.
Thank you to everyone who attended these days and made our Summits such a success! I thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone and am looking forward to working together over the next academic year and making real changes in our institutions, communities and the city of Portsmouth!”
Jessi Wilson, Programme Facilitator – Leadership Skills & Student Voice
The energy in our Changemaker Studios: Portsmouth space was electric recently as students from schools across Portsmouth gathered together for our second Council of Portsmouth Students Summit 2021/2022.
This in-person event is a great chance for the participating students to mix and get to know their peers from other schools in the area, as well as developing their skills and working within their Action Groups to bring about change in their school and community.
This year the Summit included representatives from 11 institutions including Admiral Lord Nelson School, Castle View Academy, Charter Academy, Mayville High School, Miltoncross Academy, Park Community School, Portsmouth Grammar School, Priory School, St John’s College, Trafalgar School, and The Portsmouth Academy.
The day included icebreakers, energisers and activities led by the students themselves, with the rest of the day tailored to the students’ thoughts, opinions, input and feedback.
Our Unloc Programme Facilitator Jessi, and the facilitator of this year’s CoPS, delivered a ‘masterclass’ on Confidence and Public Speaking. We considered what ‘confidence’ means to us, why confidence is necessary, and introduced the ‘Three-Legged Stool of Self-Confidence’, discussing how each leg representing Skillful, Responsible and Appreciation needs to be balanced.
We focused a little more on the Appreciation topic, and why, as British people, we tend to find it hard to accept appreciation and to say ‘thank you’. Whether we’re embarassed, don’t believe the compliment, or don’t know how to respond, Jessi encouraged everyone to share compliments with the members of their group, and asked the received to show their gratitude with a “thanks!”.
We dived into Public Speaking, considering the different styles, famous public speakers, and the positives (and negatives) of their style of communicating. Jessi challenged everyone to give public speaking a go in the form of ‘Just A Minute’ – speaking continuously for one minute without hesitation, deviation, or repetition on a subject of their choice!
Our first Guest Speaker of the day was Fungayi Zinyemba, the Manager of the Mental Health Support Team in Portsmouth, who discussed how MHST are working with their schools to provide help and support with the mental health and wellbeing of themselves and their peers.
It was great to see the students asking questions and starting conversations about mental health, whether that be their own, their friends, or general concern for how mental health is treated in schools and their communities.
Fellow Unloc Facilitator Larissa led an Activity on Debating, where the fundamentals of debate were covered before the students participated in a ‘moving debate’, using the space to show their opinion on hot topics. The students got stuck in, sharing their thoughts on the matter, with many of them utilising the public speaking skills we had covered earlier in the day, confidently sharing with everyone in the room.
Our second Guest Speaker of the day was Lauren, a former CoPS Student from Portsmouth High School who was involved in the forum last academic year. Lauren was invited to speak to this year’s cohort about her personal experience whilst in CoPS and the actions and changes her group were able to bring about in her school and community.
After Lauren’s inspiring talk, we split off into our Action Groups! These represented key themes or current issues, these were:
The students were given time to share their priorities going forward, led by the Action Group Leaders. Each group then presented to everyone else.
It’s amazing to know the actions these young people have already been able to implement, as well as their plans for the near-future to continue to bring about change in their school and community!
It was a truly inspiring event, and wonderful to see so many young changemakers from across Portsmouth gathered together and sharing their ideas in our new Changemaker Studios: Portsmouth space!
We can’t wait to see our CoPS members at the next Summit!
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