Northumbria Graduate gives Students a Voice

Victoria, a graduate and now teacher of French and German, has developed the Student Voice initiative at King Edward VI School in Morpeth and has recently received the top prize in the BT Seen and Heard Award adult category, for her role as Head of Student Voice and Leadership.

The programme is a nationwide initiative, present in many schools across the UK. It aims to give students a say in their education and to allow them to take the lead.

Student Voice (also referred to as Pupil Voice) first arrived on the education scene around 4 years ago and Victoria has worked tirelessly to develop it at King Edward VI School and as the recent award shows, her endeavours have not gone unnoticed. Not only that, but in the last 2 years the pupils’ projects and the scheme itself have been awarded a total of 12 national and international awards, including prizes in the prestigious Times Educational Supplement awards and as mentioned,  more recently the international BT Seen and Heard Awards.

The programme is open to students of any age and academic capability and is spearheaded by four 6th form student ambassadors. Victoria tells me, “Student Voice and Leadership at The King Edward VI School works to ensure that young people are given a voice not only in school, but also in their local community, regionally, nationally and internationally.”

They currently have 40 – 50 student led projects running, all varying in size and with different participation rates. They range from community groups, to “Happy Hands” who teach sign language and from creating a sustainable school to helping children make the transition from the feeder schools to King Edward VI School and really everything in between. Through the work of Victoria and the participating students, they are also now the first high school to achieve Lead Climate Change School status in Northumberland, all in the matter of a few years.

Some students have been individually recognised for the work they have put in to projects, something which Victoria is very proud of. “I have always been inspired by young people which led to my initial interest in education, I quickly realised that the more responsibility I gave to young people, the greater the impact.”

One of the most recent success stories is of one young pupil who has single-handedly developed The KEVI Gnomes, a project that has campaigned and created a new school and community garden.  Victoria tells me, “The student who despite suffering from learning difficulties and mild cerebral palsy has had an amazing year due to his development with our Student Voice Programme. He won the category of 'Young Learner of the Year' at this year's regional 'Class Awards', the category of 'Environmental Individual' at the Chronicle Environmental Awards, as well as being awarded a Diana Princess of Wales Award for achievement in overcoming adversity.” And this is just one of the many success stories the programme is producing.

After 5 years in existence, the Student Voice and Leadership Programme is firmly established. Each new year brings new challenges, surprises and indeed numerous successes. The initiative is always moving forward as students continue to explore new, innovative and creative ways in which young people can have a voice. Victoria’s plans for the future include building on the success of the development of Student Voice and Leadership with Sustainability in particular. She is keen to foster new links which were forged this year such as working with local media, and giving young people the opportunity to work directly with these sources. This will allow them to promote their work on an even larger scale. Victoria told us she is also keen to continue working on the sport side of things as well, “I envisage this being a great success in the run-up to London 2012.” And they are of course looking forward to the School’s second year as the first Lead Climate Change High School in Northumberland!