Mini Police/School Council

Mini Police

Here at Esh Winning Primary school, some of our Year 5 and 6 have become Mini Police. The Mini Police project is set up and ran by the Durham Constabulary as a means of engaging with the local community. The aim of the project is to introduce the Mini Police to a positive experience of policing, the principles of good citizenship and developing an understanding of their local community and the constructive role they can have  within this.

The Year 6 Mini Police have complete independence when it comes to recruiting the Year 5 Mini Police – a very tough task!

Our Mini police are ambassadors for both Durham Constabulary and Esh Winning Primary school. This year, the Mini Police have visited the Police Training Site and taken part in litter picking within Esh Winning village. The local police officers joined the team of Mini Police during the litter picking session, and emphasised the importance of helping and supporting within our community.

The Mini Police meet with Mrs Hodgson on a fortnightly basis to discuss how they are helping and supporting within school, but also any issues that they think adults should know about.

School Council

What is the School Council?

The School Council works to make improvements to the school and the way that we do things at Esh Winning Primary School. Each class has two School Councillors, who leads the meetings in their own class to ensure that all of our children have a voice. They also get involved in important decisions when we recruit new staff.

How do we choose our School Councillors?

We hold elections at the start of each year. All children are given the opportunity to stand for the post of School Councillor. They explain their reasons why the class should vote for them and then the rest of the class decide who should represent them. All of the School Councillors think that it is important that they represent everyone in school and carry forward ideas from their peers. They believe that they should be an outstanding role model to others in school. They all think it is important to raise money for school and other school-supported charities.

What are the School Council working on this year?

The School Council meet fortnightly with the Headteacher to discuss and share views. The School Council have been working on ways to improve our outdoor area. They have also been part of the Climate Friendly Schools’ initiative and thinking of ways that we can improve recycling in our school.

Durham Youth Council

We have started to develop links with the Durham Youth Council, who are a group of young people aged from 11 to 19 based across County Durham. We are hoping to meet some of the Youth Councillors to organise a School Council conference where other Councillors from other schools can join us to discuss the things that are important to us. The School Councillors recently signed up to the Durham Youth Council School Uniform pledge, which asks schools to think about uniform policies and ensuring that they are affordable and inclusive. To find out more information about the Durham Youth Council, please follow the link below.

Youth Council – Durham County Council