St Joseph of Cluny Student Council

Aims and objectives

To allow students to play an active part in the life of the school
To provide an effective communication network between Staff, Students and Parents
To empower students and give them a sense of responsibility
To foster a sense of respect and stewardship among students.

Student Council will consist of:

A representative from each class as per year group first to sixth
Head Girl and Deputy Head Girl
Chairperson, secretary and Treasurer which are to be elected from existing members and will work in conjunction with the Head Girl and Deputy Head Girl
Student Council Liaison Teacher

Elections must be held in first year
Deadline for 1st year elections is October mid-term break
The first year Senior Prefects attend on behalf of first years until members are elected
If a council member needs to forfeit her position an election must take place
One can vote for anyone within ones own class from 1st- 3rd year and from ones year group from 4th -6th year
The student must state her willingness to go forward for election
Nominees are then voted upon by the rest of the Council by a secret ballot.

This year our Student Council is:

Positions to be filled are Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer
Members must be nominated and seconded
Nominees are then voted upon by the rest of the Council by means of a secret ballot.

All members must sign the contract agreeing to the rules of the Council
Members must have a valid reason to be absent with leave from a meeting
Members must excuse themselves, in advance of a meeting if they plan to be absent
Members may miss a maximum of 3 meetings without leave
Members must be punctual for meetings
Members must take an active part in the Council.
A member may be removed, by agreement of the council and school management, if her behaviour or attitude is deemed to be unacceptable or her contribution is consistently inadequate.

The Management of the school, members of Staff, School policy or Code of behaviour may not be discussed
No individual student’s problems, whether of personal, social or academic nature, may be discussed
No individual student’s dealings with teachers, disciplinary or otherwise, may be discussed
Student Council may not be used by any member to represent any perceived grievance of an individual student or group of students with respect to any teacher or with respect to the code of behaviour of the school
Discussions at Student Council meetings lead to recommendations not decisions. All definitive recommendations will be presented to the Principal for approval.
Proposals must be for the benefit of the school in general
The Council must not meet unless the Staff Liaison Teacher or other appointed Teacher is present
Any Staff member has the right to attend any meeting of the Council as he/she wishes.

Every week
Meetings are to be held before school or at lunch time unless a ‘special meeting’ is called by the S.C. Liaison Teacher
The day of the week on which the Student Council meets may be chosen at the start of each year and meetings should take place on that day throughout the year.