Planning a whole school approach

A whole school approach nurtures individual leadership skills and confidence, builds positive and respectful relationships and maintains an inclusive environment. As well as improving the wellbeing of individual students, encouraging student voice has the potential to deliver benefits in our classrooms, across our schools and into the broader community.

In our classrooms

Classrooms provide a balance between teacher directed and student led activities to support students to be partners in their own learning. This can be achieved through the existing syllabus outcomes. Achieving student voice in our classroom means:

• working together: building communication, collaboration, leadership and negotiation skills
• having voice: creating consistent opportunities for feedback and reflection
• having choice: increasing student decision-making about how they learn and are assessed
• having influence: understanding relationships, promoting self-discipline and goal-setting.

Resources

Student voice through feedback and reflection

Student feedback supports learning and student participation. This resource provides a guide to student feedback and examples of exit slips and student survey.

Student voice, participation and leadership in our classrooms checklists (DOCX 125.82KB)

This resource provides checklists for student feedback about learning, teacher reflection on student voice and a mapping tool for student voice activities.

Amplifying student voice in positive classroom environments (DOCX 535.11KB)

This resource provides a checklist for developing a positive classroom environment. The checklist includes features of the social and physical environment.

Amplifying voice and agency in students with disability (PDF 270KB)

This resource provides support for schools in situations where some students may require additional support and focussed interventions to develop skills in voicing their opinions and advocating for themselves.

In our schools

Every school provides a range of opportunities for students to participate in decision-making and understand their rights and responsibilities as active citizens such as student representative councils and school parliaments. Achieving student voice in our schools means:

• working together: building communication, collaboration, leadership and negotiation skills
• having voice: school-wide opportunities for feedback such as Tell Them From Me
• having choice: promoting connectedness, active citizenship and democratic practice
• having influence: student voice informing school planning and decisions.

Examples of practice:

• Creative and performing arts curricular and co-curricular activities

In our communities

Local communities can provide a range of opportunities for students to participate in social, environmental, cultural and sporting activities. Examples could include fundraising for a local charity or participating in cultural events such as NAIDOC week. Achieving student voice in our community means:

• working together: fostering authentic community partnerships
• having voice: providing ways for student to connect their skills and interests to local community issues and organisations
• having choice: student skills and interests driving community collaborations
• having influence: student voice shaping their local communities and future lives.

Examples of practice:

• Participation in government, local council or community groups, e.g., Office of the Advocate for Children and Young People (ACYP) or Our local