Shaftesbury School Council

Shaftesbury School council has representatives from years 1-6 and aims to give children a voice within school. The children have regular meetings and discuss topics such as school dinners and fund raising events. The school was awarded the Healthy School Award in a borough competition for their excellent work.

If you have any ideas or questions please speak to either your school council class member or to Miss Whitwam.

 School Trip -Houses of Parliament - 7^th December 2009


On Monday 7th December 2009 Shaftesbury School Council made a visit to the Houses of   Parliament. The children were very excited and they had many questions to ask about how the Government works and the history of the building.

As the school party arrived and passed through security their excitement heightened. They gathered in the entrance of the Portcullis, the modern section of the Houses of Parliament that looks over the River Thames. The children were greeted by their hosts and quickly divided in to two groups to be shown around. The tour guide first took the children underground to cross the road to the more publicly recognisable section of the Houses of Parliament where the House of Lords and the House of Commons can be found. The children were silenced by the artwork which surrounded them and made links to the history topics that they had studied in school- The Tudors, Victorians and The Second World War to name but a few. They were also interested in the scarf that was displayed in a corridor worn by Emily Wilding Davison a Suffragette as she gave her life in a campaign to get women voting rights.

After the tour the children were taken to a meeting room and learnt about ‘Your Voice’- getting your political ideas heard and taken seriously. The children were then introduced to Steven Timms, East Hams MP, and as a group they discussed local issues- school meals, litter, pollution and sporting facilities. In doing this the children felt a real sense of importance as Steven Timms explained the future of Newham is within the hands of the young and that he was always there to listen. 

The children of Shaftesbury Primary School got a huge amount of experience from the visit and will hopefully use what they have learnt to make a positive impact on their local community!