The aim of the Students' Council is to work in partnership with the staff and parents/guardians for the benefit of the whole school community. The Students' Council seeks to provide a line of communication between students, staff and parents/guardians, representing the views of the student body on the matters of concern to them. The Students' Council will undertake a programme of activities, which support students, parents/guardians and staff.
Student Council Update May 2024
Two members of our Student Council presented their work to Coláiste Aindriú’s Board of Management in May 2024. Below is a summary of that presentation.
My name is Kayla and I am a 6th year student in Coláiste Aindriú and I am a member of the student council. I am also Head Girl in the school.
I am here today to give the board a brief run down of the role of the student council in the school. We as students have a valuable input to make towards the school and we know that our involvement in the operation of the school is a valuable part of our education.
So the main roles of the student council are as follows:
- To work in partnership with teachers, school management and parents in the operation of the school • To give students a sense of ownership of the school and its activities
- To promote the interests of students
- To support the management and staff in the development of the school
- To represent the views of our students on matters which concern them
Our student council is made up of a male and female representative from all 6 year groups. In total there are 13 members on our student council. We hold weekly meetings in the Library with our Student Council Coordinator Ms. Sealey and Ms. Coffey and Ms. Hickey are sometimes invited to attend, especially if we have something that we would like to run by them. They always listen to us and take on board what we say. Any final decisions rest on them to decide. We also have pins we wear to show we are members of the student council.
The student council is a team and we have different roles on this team. We have a chairperson, a secretary and a treasurer. The chairperson is a very important person and their job is to lead each meeting we have
- Their job is to open and close each meeting
- If we are voting on an issue and there is a tie, then the chairperson has the casting vote
- The chairperson prepares the agenda of each meeting and signs the minutes of the previous meeting
- They ensure that everyone gets a fair say at every meeting and that order is kept
The secretary probably has the busiest job at the meeting because they have to take the minutes at every meeting. This means writing down a record of what was discussed and agreed at the meetings. At our meeting, we write what we discussed on the whiteboard, and the secretary takes a photo of this.
My name is Dylan and I am a 5th year student in the school and I am the chairperson of the student council.
I’m going to give you a run down of the different activities we were involved in over the year:
In October all members of the student council attended student council training organised by KCETB in the Dolmen Hotel in Carlow. We got to meet many other students involved in student councils in their school. It was great to listen to their views and hear what they have being doing in their own schools.
In November we organised a Halloween Costume Day and prizes were given to the best dressed from each year.
We organised a Christmas Fun Day in December, including a Christmas dinner and the student council members organised and ran the Christmas table quiz. We also organised Choir practice for anyone wanting to be involved. The choir sang Christmas songs on this day. The Choir and the Student council visited local Primary Schools to sing Christmas songs and give out certificates and Christmas treats.
To celebrate ETB Week in March we raised the Ethos Flag for the school which displays or core values of Excellence in Education, Care, Equality, Community and Respect. In the same month we helped with the organisation of Seachtain na Gaeilge.
We organsied Odd Socks Day in March to fundraise for Down Syndrome Ireland. In April we organised a Random Act of Kindness Day and gave out balloons and Easter Eggs.
Some members of the student council visited primary schools at Easter and delivered Easter Eggs and Easter Bunny certs to the pupils in the school. We helped celebrate Stand Up Awareness Week 2024 by working with school management to organise different activities for the week.
One of our biggest accomplishments this year has been the incoming addition to the school uniform. We met with Ms. Coffey and voiced some of the issues students experience with our current school jumper. After a number of meetings a new school half-zip was suggested, to help with some of the student’s issues. We then met with Rea’s Department store to discuss the design of this new uniform piece. We are very happy with this new addition and feel it will make a lot of students feel more comfortable in school.
We also have gotten the student council suggestion box back up and running, along side a student council notice board, where we update students with upcoming events.
Next year we will elect a new student council at the beginning of the year.
