By Ellie Ozturk and Chrysta Lois
Ellie Ozturk, Year 10 on running for election:
Firstly, running to be a member of the School Council is an excellent achievement, requiring great bravery, so well done to everyone who participated! I am delighted at the thought of how many people voted for me, so thank you to everyone who voted.
I feel this year the School Council Team is being taken a lot more seriously and they are beginning to have more say on what goes on in school and what should be happening. For example, the voting process was far more realistic to what is done during an actual election; we all had our own poll cards and selected who we wanted to vote for at an official polling station in the main hall.
When the voting was finished and counted, everyone who was nominated was brought together for a full presentation and celebration, including a selection of food afterwards.
This year the School Council will be focusing on issues including bullying, racism, mental health and changing certain aspects of the school. We hope you are happy with what we are trying to focus on and if not make sure you let your form representatives know so they can pass them on to your School Council representatives.
Chrysta Lois, Year 9 on running an election:
On the 7th November, my fellow ambassadors and I helped run the Election for School Council members for Year 7 to 11 and Sixth Form. We set up tables and helped everyone vote for the Councillor they wanted for their year. They handed us their voting slip from their form teacher, we then crossed their off their name off our voter registration list, then we gave them their voting card, which they then used to vote for the candidate of their choice.
After all the votes were collected, we emptied the official voting boxes and counted all the votes. We separated them into year groups, then into candidates, then we counted them and checked them. I felt this experience was very fun and educational, because we got to help everyone and got a feel for what a real election is like, including how they keep everything organised. The best bit was counting the votes, even though it took a while.
Results of the election:
With an 84% turnout across the school, the results are as follows: