Student Leadership at BISL

Here at BISL, we have many Student Leadership roles. These include Head Boy and Head Girl both in Primary and Secondary school, House Captains, Student Council Representatives and Prefects. Their goal is to encourage positive change throughout our school community.

Our Student Council runs from Early Years upwards. Representatives from each class are elected by their peers and have the opportunity to take part in meetings where they can make suggestions and help bring about positive changes in school, reporting their progress back to students, the Senior Leadership Team and the school community. Most recently, our Student Council organised a fantastic Halloween Costume Competition – shared by students both online and in school.

"My goal as the Head of Student Council is to make online learning fun. When we meet, we discuss what we want to happen. For example, for Halloween, I decided that I want everyone to still wear costumes for school, despite many of us being at home, so we decided to organise a costume contest.

First, I suggested that we should do a costume contest. Next, we voted and finally we made it happen! I think It was a great way to bring the students together for a fun activity. In my opinion, the student council is a great way to improve the school and make it fun for the students. Our main goal right now is to find online collaborative, fun games to play together after school or in golden hour, even though we are far apart."

- Shaun W., Year 6

In both Primary and Secondary school, our Head Boy and Head Girl are instrumental in leading Student Voiceby organising, participating and leading events in all departments around school, making sure that student voice is heard. They model our school’s core values and leave behind a meaningful legacy and set an example for their peers to follow.

"Hello, we are Maria and Jakob, and we are your Head Girl and Head Boy. We would like to give you some tips for distance learning:

Tip 1: Follow a steady schedule: Wake up early, eat Healthy Breakfast everyday, always put on a clean uniform, make sure that your table is tidy and ready for your online learning and start your zoom call.

Tip 2: During your Break, go outside if you can, like you would in school.

Tip 3: Do your homework straight after school, so that you can spend the evening with your family.

Tip 4: After school, try not to be online as much because you’ve already spent a lot of time in front of your screen. Maybe go and spend time with your family!

Be safe and have fun!"

- Jakob P. and Maria T., Year 6

During this time of online learning, our Head Boy and Girl in Secondary school have spent some time joining Form sessions in the morning with their younger peers to give some useful tips and words of encouragement as we navigate through this phase together.

"As you are not in school, productivity might be an issue you're struggling with. One thing that helps is keeping your work area clean and free from any distractions. Make sure you dedicate one specific space where you will do the majority of your school work. Try to follow the normal school schedule as much as possible, so that afterwards you can spend some time on discovering new hobbies or talking to friends. Throughout the week, make a schedule for when you will spend some extra time on specific subjects, maybe the ones you have the most trouble with or the ones with an assessment coming up.

While everything is online, it is important to continue checking your emails and canvas pages for any updates. Teachers might add something after the lesson, and you want to avoid missing out on assignments or any additional resources they provide you with. If you feel like you are unable to keep up with all the work, it might help to keep a diary to write everything down and organise your thoughts. This will help you with staying on top of all the different subjects. Contact your teachers to help you with any issues, as they will also understand that these are difficult times, and sometimes your homework is not the first thing on your mind.

Please do not forget to go outside, and make sure you are not spending too much time inside behind your desk. Try to at least move for thirty minutes a day, even if it is just a short walk. Get some fresh air by going for a run or on a bike ride, or use this as an opportunity to contact any family or friends while you're taking a walk. If you feel like you are missing out on social connections, organise a skype or zoom call with your friends during the lunch break, so you can catch up.

The most important thing is that you take care of yourself, and stay as healthy as possible, physically and mentally. Know that the school has a great support system that is always willing to help, and you can reach out if you need some encouragement or assistance."

- Micky W., Year 13

House Captains also play a vital role during the academic year in encouraging and motivating their House members and leading their House in participation, competitive spirit and sportsmanship in all school sporting events, as well as assisting the PE Team in any sports related matters.

"For the past couple of weeks, many of us have found ourselves stuck at home whilst studying and learning which can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle pretty easily. Due to this reason it is vital to regularly go outside in the fresh air or carry out any form of sports in order to keep your body active and healthy. Try reaching out to your friends via zoom or other platforms in order to stay connected throughout this period.

Being productive as well as efficient throughout our studies is key, by which a student strives by outputting his/her best to achieve their goals; which start by being organised and uptight with your learning area and time management. Whilst studying at home, I suggest maintaining one area of study as this can help with organisation and time by which assignments and revision become easier to perform.

Waking up everyday for form time can be stressful at times with your bed right next to you, this shows the importance of having a unique and uniform routine suitable for you. This, by my experience, can be very efficient in controlling and managing your study and home time periods as it can be hard to balance both throughout the day. Preferably I study in the morning whilst my mindset is focused towards my subjects and have no distractions. This allows me to have more free time amongst the day as well as more time to study my subjects thoroughly.

Whilst learning at home, some assignments could be missed/unseen due to the unannounced notifications to students therefore making it a mandatory task to regularly check your canvas pages in order not to miss any assignments set by your teachers. I suggest downloading the Canvas Student app which notifies you every time anything is set or added for your course. Now that everything's online, even though we are studying and learning separately from one another, we are all in this together. I have seen and heard that everyone has done a great job so far; don't forget to prepare for the upcoming assessments next Block, however more importantly to stay safe and healthy as well."

- Daniel K., Year 13

As a school, we pride ourselves on the commitment of our Student Leaders, who are outstanding ambassadors to our school and our school values of Respect, Empathy, Excellence and Challenge. We hope that they take the positive experiences gained with us throughout their journey in life.