New Academic Year for the Bath Student Parliament

On Wednesday 28th September, Bath Student Parliament (BSP) representatives from 12 Bath secondary schools had an in-person meeting at Prior Park College. Subcommittees were formed in the Summer Term and, over the holidays, students were tasked with generating some concrete proposals to implement across Bath schools. This meeting gave the opportunity for the different subcommittees to come together, share their ideas and put them to the vote. Some excellent practical ideas were proposed and voted upon, including concrete ways to develop inter-school relationships, educate students about mental health and improve equality. The maturity with which students collaborated and communicated their ideas was commendable.

Aims

To develop inter-school relations and offer an opportunity for students to bring about changes in their school/local community.  This idea was conceived following lockdown as a way to encourage students to interact and engage. 

Background

The idea to form a student Parliament was borne out of discussions with Mr C. Wheeler, Principal at Monkton Combe School and Ms Ann Cusack, Headmistress of St. Gregory’s School.  The Bath Student Parliament (BSP) working group, consisting of interested pupils from across a number of Bath schools, was established in January 2021.  Working group representatives and staff from each school arranged and ran elections and the elected Bath Student Parliament was established in April 2022. 

Resources

One member of staff (KP) to facilitate online meetings and communication between staff members of different schools and the school representatives.

In person meetings need a centralised meeting space, which, at present is achieved through each of the schools involved offering to host, thereby making use of their school’s facilities.  At present any catering costs are covered by the host school

There has been a provisional agreement made by the headteachers involved that they will contribute to a central budget up to a certain amount.  The total annual amount spent will be divided and each school invoiced. 

Pupil Involvement

Participants are from both state and independent schools and the age of the students can range from 15 to 18. It is open to all pupils from Years 10-13.

Frequency

This is a recurring event.  In-person meetings happen once a term and online meetings every couple of weeks. Provided that students still remain interested, the hope is that it will continue for the foreseeable future.