At ESF West Island School, we believe that all students should be given a wide range of opportunities to develop and practice their leadership skills in preparation for life beyond school. Student Leadership is an integral part of learning and development, focusing on strengthening classroom learning, developing care and compassion for the community, and embracing Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS).
Our core philosophy is that Leadership is not a title for the few; it’s a mindset for everyone. We aim to create a "lattice, not just a ladder" for leadership, ensuring that every student's passion has a pathway to influence and shape the school culture and learning experience.
Aims of Our Student Leadership Programme
Our leadership structure is designed to deliver tangible, positive, and measurable change in our school culture. The specific aims include:
- Empowerment: Students work in partnership with staff towards shared goals.
- Creativity: Enabling creativity to flourish as the school community benefits from student experiences, ideas, and skills.
- Development: Providing opportunities to develop leadership skills through inspiring, challenging, and valued projects that positively impact learning, teaching, and well-being.
- Preparation: Preparing students for life beyond West Island School.
- Impact: Producing great citizens who are skilled, empathetic, and ready to face the world.
Student Leadership Roles
We have deliberately created unique, defined roles so that every leader knows their specific mission. These roles cover governance, mentoring, health promotion, and innovation.
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Governance & Advocacy:
- Head Students: The strategic backbone of the student body, acting as a liaison between students, staff, and Senior Leadership, driving high-level, school-wide initiatives.
- Pre-16 Leader: Represents younger cohorts (Year 7-11) through their transition, running activities on skills like note-taking and stress management before exam pressure hits.
- Student Voice Ambassador: Manages feedback channels, participates in focus groups, and ensures every student's opinion is formally collected, analyzed, and translated into administrative action.
Community & Culture:
- Dynasty (House) Leader: Builds vertical integration and school spirit by leading house competitions and managing the dynasty point system to ensure recognition for positive behavior and effort.
- School Ambassadors: Introduces new families to the school and supports transition activities to ensure a positive welcome and clear induction for new students.
- Sports Team Captain: Motivates, ensures consistency, and creates an ethos of dedication within the school's sports teams, working with coaches to get the best out of every player.
Wellbeing & Inclusion:
- Health Ambassadors: Addresses student well-being by promoting healthy habits and providing essential peer support; members are trained in mental health first aid basics.
- EAP Ambassadors: Directly support students who are new or developing English language skills (English for Academic Purposes), helping them integrate socially and academically.
Innovation & Activities:
- Digital Leader: Drives technological literacy and safety by training teachers and students on new educational software and promoting online safety.
- CAS Ambassadors: Seeks feedback on the range of Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS) activities available to ensure popular ones continue and new interest groups are considered.'
Recruitment and Support
Most student leadership roles are recruited in Term 2 and run for a full year. Students are generally limited to holding one leadership role per year to ensure as many students as possible benefit from these opportunities.
- Promotion: Roles are promoted through the daily student bulletin.
- Application Process: Most roles require a letter of interest and an interview with either staff or current student leaders.
- Training & Mentorship: Each group is led by a member of staff to provide guidance and mentorship. Appointed students receive training from current student leaders or staff to fully understand the role and its requirements, with ongoing training also provided.
We have deliberately created unique roles so that every leader knows their specific mission, covering areas like governance, mentoring, health promotion, and innovation. This comprehensive structure doesn't just produce effective leaders; it produces great citizens who are skilled, empathetic, and ready to face the world. We believe our leadership structure is proven to deliver tangible, positive, and measurable change in our school culture and the lives of our students.
