The School Council at Kendrick School is comprised of two student representatives from each form; six students in each year group from the Lower School and eight students from Year 10, all lead by a team of eight Year 11 students. New representatives are elected each year through a democratic voting system, following a speech that each candidate makes to her form about why they believe they are suitable for the role.

A weekly meeting is held led by the Year 11 Representatives where students are able to discuss ways in which learning or school life at Kendrick can be enhanced, and an opportunity is given for new ideas to be raised and new initiatives to be considered. The issues discussed at School council are then taken to the forms to consider and discussed with Ms Kattirtzi at the weekly meetings she has with the Year 11 Reps.

By allowing regular communication to flow among students and staff, a supportive dynamic is created where mutual respect and awareness can thrive and students are able to put forward ideas for consideration. This allows for effective collaboration and decision-making within the school to develop giving students opportunities to shape the Kendrick community. All students are able to have a voice, and with that voice, we feel they can lead, inspire, and make a difference.

This academic year has been a highly successful one for School Council, packed with various meetings with staff and students, as we have managed to fulfil all the goals we had set out in September. 

Our first goal was in line with the celebrations of the School's 140th Birthday, where we wanted the Subject Departments in our school to receive a gift from students and parents, to thank the teachers for all they do to enhance our learning. To raise the money we decided to adopt the usual non-school uniform day, a subject-themed dress-up day, where we saw some fabulous Kendrick school spirit from teachers and students, dressed as flowerpots and chemicals, to name but a few of the costumes worn on that day! 

Thanks to this effort as well as tremendous parent support through donations, we were able to raise £3000, which is no easy feat. This amount of money was enough to cover all the wish list requests that the individual departments asked for. We were very pleased and proud of the gifts we were able to give our teachers and staff of the school and they were very pleased to receive them. The items requested have now been purchased and have already started to benefit students in their learning. 

As you may already know, at Kendrick, all our students are responsible and empathetic members of our local community, and we deeply enjoy being able to make a difference to someone's life. So after the Birthday Gift initiative, we thought it was appropriate to make a contribution to our local community. 

As Easter was approaching, and we asked every form to make an 'Easter gift Box', aimed at young children. The gift boxes were then taken to the Royal Berkshire Hospital and given to the children in Lion and Dolphin wards. We managed to deliver 20 bursting boxes full of small toys, books and lovely messages from our students to the children. The children were delighted to receive these gifts.

This brings us up to date and now as Year 11 students we are signing off before we begin our study leave in a week’s time. We leave the Council in the capable hands of the Year 10 students who we know will continue to lead the council and do great things next year. We would like to thank all the teachers and students, who have helped us fulfil our goals this year, and wish next year's representatives all the very best, as they embark on their journey of leading the student voice of the students. We are eager to see what inspiring differences they will make to our school and community. 

Ishika and Louise, Year 11 School Council Reps