Student Voice
We know that many of our students have passionate views about their Academy, their place within it, and indeed about the world beyond the academy. We want those passions to have a voice. We also know that many of our students have real leadership talents, and others are always looking for ways to develop their leadership skills. We want our students to believe, as we do, that democracy and the democratic process is the best way to get their voices heard, and their ideas put into action.
Student Council
Section 78 of the Education Act (2002) requires schools, as part of a broad and balanced curriculum, to promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society. One of the cornerstones of this is the need to promote understanding and respect of the fundamental British values. At HAF, we are committed to promote the British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. These values are taught explicitly as part of our curriculum offer in subjects like SMSC and Citizenship but are also embedded into the teaching practise across our school. We seek to develop relationships of trust and respect between all those in our school community, and although it is vitally important that our young people feel confident in expressing their own views and opinions, it is equally important that we are able to articulate these views in a way that is respectful of others.
Students at HAF will be given a range of opportunities to develop their understanding of these values and how they can be put into practise. For instance, the HAF Student Council provides a space for elected student representatives to discuss matters of importance to them in our school, and through working to highlight and raise awareness of issues that they feel strongly about, can have their voices heard by the senior leadership of the school. The school has also embarked on regular school trips to Parliament in an effort to further promote student understanding of the UK political system and the way in which our democracy operates. Additionally, to further promote mutual respect and tolerance, events including the HAF culture day and activities to promote understanding of others in our society seek are now embedded parts of our wider school curriculum.
Through the delivery of these values, we seek to strengthen our wider ethos of serve, support, success and continue to work to prepare our young people for their engagement with wider society.
Mr R Edmonds
Head of Citizenship
What our student council are saying:
Our priority as a School Council is to assist the school and our community by empowering our student voice!
Florentina Agbewonetse - Student Council Lead
The Student Council means to me that I am making a change for the better of the school. This is the reason why I decided to put myself forward. This opportunity will also look great on my cv and I enjoy being part of the changes.
Sekemi - Student Council Rep
I decided to put myself forward as a Student Council Representative because I love debating and I want to make my school a more enjoyable please to be. Being part of the Student Council means I can work with older students to solve any matters and to help the local community.
Laura - Student Council Rep
When Harris Academy Falconwood announced the new school council roles for September 2023, I thought I would like to do it as I had done something similar in my primary school. The representative was to be chosen through an anonymous vote after each student stated why they should be the representative for the class. I said that I would do my best to make their opinions heard, linking to the British value of individual liberty to give the students more freedom of speech. After all the votes were counted, I could not have been more grateful for the people who voted me. I would like to thank all my supporters and I look forward to bringing the opinions of students to make HAF even greater.
Jack - Student Council Rep
Student Leadership Team
Our Student Leadership Team of Sixth Form Students is comprised of our Head Boy, Head Girl, and their deputies as well as a group of Prefects who represent the broader sixth form student body. They discuss and influence a range of decisions in the Academy, such as our actions to tackle environmental issues and influencing events such as our Culture Day.
At Harris Academy Falconwood , all our students can exercise their democratic rights and elect the students to form the Leadership team. Our student leadership team represents all our Student voices and are proud to uphold our Academy Values, Serve, Support and Success in and outside the classroom.
Our Student Leadership team
Head Boy - Uyi Evbosomon
Head Girl - Tasnim Chowdhury
Senior Wellbeing Ambassador – Darcey Jeeves
Senior Antibullying Ambassador – Sophia Parr
Senior Diversity Ambassador – Shawanna Umunna
Senior Eco Ambassador – Adam Sharpe
Senior Transition Buddy – Ben Gorman
Prefects and Ambassadors
Our Prefects and Ambassadors have the responsibility to the school, staff, and peers to uphold our values in everything they do. They have energy, enthusiasm and a willingness to put others before themselves. They are a role model to all students and as such have the highest expectations put upon them. Our Prefects are ambassadors of our Academy's values, serve, support and success and always aim to be the best they can be.
Some of our prefects are also mentors to younger students. We have mentors for the following: Science, Maths, Spanish, EAL, Wellbeing and Careers.
- HAF DIVERSITY Ambassadors: Diversity Ambassadors are pupils that are keen to share their ideas on how our school community can raise the profile of the diversity and range of cultures in our school. They will help to organise and run a range of events including Culture Day. They also attend the Think Tank Group for LGBTQ+ run by the Bexley Council every term in different secondary schools.
- HAF WELLBEING Ambassadors: Wellbeing Ambassadors are pupils who have shown a real interest in championing positive mental health and wellbeing. These pupils are eager to share their learning around mental health and advertise the importance of self-care.
- HAF ECO Ambassadors: Eco Ambassadors are students with a passion for environmental issues and they will work to reduce our carbon footprint with a different whole school initiatives.
- HAF ANTI-BULLYING Ambassadors: Are students that truly care about the safeguarding of all our students. They will develop posters and ideas to share with other peers to tackle any unacceptable behaviour within the school.
- HAF TRANSITION Buddies: Our transition buddies will ensure new students settle in well into our Academy. They will shadow them during their first few days and help them navigate their way through the school.
I am honoured to be given the role of Science mentor. I do hope I can support younger students by helping them increase their confidence and to make progress in the subject. We aim to do this by providing mentoring in small groups during enrichments to maximise the attention given to individual students.
Faeza Mehr - Prefect and Science Mentor
I believe our aim is to provide new students with access to helpful discussions and connections with members of the student leadership team to aid the transition process and supply a welcoming atmosphere.
Ben Gorman - Transition Buddy
The Application Process: Sixth Form Leadership Group
The process for students to become part of the Sixth Form Leadership Group, including Head Boy and Girl, is layered to ensure that the group includes the students who can best represent the views of the sixth form cohort and can exemplify the Academy values. The process is:
- Staff nominate potential candidates
- Nominated students have the choice to opt in or out
- Students who opt in write a formal letter of application
- Students present to the Head of Academy and other members of the senior team, who will select the student to fulfil the various roles.
