Student Leadership
At St Laurence, we are committed to the vision that people are our treasure. It is through this vision that we strive to develop courageous advocates across St Laurence School as when given the opportunity young people can have a profound impact on their community.
The leadership programme will allow students to develop and discover their interests beyond that of the academic. It will also enable students to build their resilience, confidence and independence as well as help to equip them to be responsible, respectful and active members of our school community.
Involvement in leadership activities can improve students’ learning as well as helping them to develop the skills and traits needed for success outside of the classroom. St Laurence School’s Student Leadership programme aims to increase the opportunity for Student Leadership across the school, enhance the input students have and ensure all students feel represented by their peers and are valued as members of the school community.
Leadership Structure
St Laurence School’s student leadership model aims to be inclusive to ensure that all students have an opportunity to lead.
Every tutor group has two representatives on their House Council. Each House has a minimum of two House Leaders, elected by the students. Tutor reps and House Leaders make up the House Council for each of our five Houses, who meet termly.
The school has two Head Students. Our Head Students lead the Student Leadership Team (school council) and work collaboratively with the Senior Leadership Team.
The Student Leadership Team, comprising of the Head Students, House Leaders and Leaders from the other student led groups, meets termly.
Our Student Leadership Team play a significant role in listening to student voice and putting this into actionable plans to facilitate change.
Leadership Groups/Opportunities
Anti-bullying Ambassadors
6-8 Students from a range of year groups deliver briefings and tutorial activities. They work on raising awareness of anti-bullying through postering, they deliver an anti-bullying week once a year for the community: stopbullying@st-laurence.com
Literacy Leaders
Students from year 10 deliver the Reading and Spelling Challenge with younger years. This involves paired reading and literacy support.
Green Group
Students are working on the school becoming more sustainable e.g. project of tree planting last yea. They also chair the Green Council which can be attended by students in all year groups: Greengroup@st-laurence.com
Peer Mentoring
Students in year 12 take part in this programme to mentor younger students to support mental health and wellbeing. Students undergo training, including safeguarding: Peermentoring@st-laurence.com
Wiltshire Youth Councilor
This programme, open to years 7-12, is run by Wiltshire Council. 28 schools across Wiltshire take part. The Councilor is elected and in post for 2 years. The councilor attends Wiltshire Youth Council and the Shadow Youth Cabinet (where they work alongside adult councilors) and also has the opportunity to go forward to National Youth Parliament.
Gender Sexuality Alliance
GSA is run by sixth form students to provide a safe space for support/advice/signposting relating to LGBTQ+ and they also are trained mentors, offering a drop-in service: gsa@st-laurence.com
Male Mental Health
Sixth form students run this group and are trained mentors who offer drop-in mentoring for boys struggling with mental health or for girls who are worried about a male: mmh@st-laurence.com
Feminista
Sixth form students run this group who meet to tackle all things feminist, including misogyny and sexual harassment: feminista@st-laurence.com
Connect Magazine
Budding journalists, graphics students and photographers all come together to design, create and publish the school magazine. They interview staff and students, write articles, and shape all the content. The students are led by 4 sixth form editors.
Leadership Academy
Among other things, our sports leaders gather to host the Mid-Wiltshire Primary Schools Cross Country Championships and the Mid-Wiltshire Primary Schools Dodgeball Finals, with our leaders officiating games and running the scoring or results tables.
Social Action Group
The Advocates for Social change are a group of students who aim to use their voice, physical presence, energy, and time to support the school in social action projects that align with the schools Christian Vision and Ethos. Responsibilities include planning the collective worship programme, using student voice to determine social action projects, and working with other student groups and external agencies to help bring about social change.