Students are at the heart of any successful community hub in a school.

Encourage students to get involved

Students are collectively and individually unique, creative, individual and inspiring. They can think of and explore ideas that adults might not.

Include several ways to engage students in decision-making. Think about how to let students take part who are:

• less confident
• less willing and able to verbally express their ideas.

You could use:

• art
• written feedback
• small group discussions
• peer led consultations
• photography.

You could use the support within your school to do this. For example student support officers, volunteers or peer to peer.

Student voice

The student wellbeing ambassador’s toolkit, VoiceIt, gives students a way to:

• think of (or explore) ideas
• share their thoughts
• make decisions
• put their ideas into action.

Department staff can access the full VoiceIt toolkit on the department’s intranet (staff login required).

If you do not have access and are interested, talk to staff at your school.