At St Mary’s, we are proud to provide meaningful opportunities for our children to grow as leaders, living out their faith and values through service to others. Our Pupil Leadership Teams include the GIFT Team (Growing In Faith Together), the School Council, and our dedicated Play Leaders. Each team plays an important role in shaping our school community.

Inspired by Psalm 133:1, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity,” our pupil leaders work together to build a school environment rooted in love, respect, and responsibility.

  • The GIFT Team helps to lead and enhance the Catholic life of the school through prayer, worship, and acts of service, supporting our mission to grow in faith together.

  • The School Council ensures that children’s voices are heard and valued, working collaboratively with staff to make positive changes across the school.

  • Our Play Leaders support positive playtimes by helping younger pupils, encouraging friendship and inclusion, and promoting kindness on the playground.

Through these teams, our children learn that leadership is about serving others, listening well, and making a difference. At St Mary’s, we are proud of the way our pupils lead with compassion, courage, and joy.

Our Pupil Leadership Teams

GIFT Team

This year we are have a very dedicated Gift Team. These children are:

Holly

Harry

Laura

Aubrey

Oscar

Maison

Nel

Mary

 Junior

Lyla

Vinnie

Erin

Lena

Violet

Brooke

 

Children in the GIFT team have a special role to play in school.

  • They plan, prepared and present weekly liturgies for each the children who are going to GIFT team that week.
  • They write prayers for each school mass
  • They helped to organise the Macmillan Coffee Morning and collections for the local food bank.
  • They invite and welcome visitors/parishioner into school at different times of the year
  • Each week they go to each class to share the Statement to Live by and guide them in their end of day prayers
EYFS Maison and Junior
Year 1 Lyla, Harry and Vinnie
Year 2 Laura and Erin
Year 3 Lena and Aubrey
Year 4 Oscar and Holly
Year 5 Violet and Nel
Year 6 Brooke and Mary

School Council

At St Mary’s, our School Council has been formed to listen to the children’s wishes and ideas and to improve our school.  The School Council consists of 12 members from Years 1-6 and we have regular meetings together to discuss ideas.  We are all very enthusiastic and committed to our roles.

What is the School Council?
The School Council works to make improvements to the school and the way we do things at St.Mary’s. We seek to improve things and discuss what to do. Everyone gets a chance to speak and when we’ve finished we decide with Miss Dempsey and then our Chairs have to talk to Mrs Ruane.

Who are the School Councillors? 
Every year we run an Election campaign to vote for two new representatives for each class. A good representative will speak at the Council meetings about things that their class is interested in. They will also tell their class about what is going on in the Council meetings and put the minutes up in the classroom. 

The Minutes 
The minutes are the notes that we take at the meetings; they record what was said and what will happen next. If your class representative was at the meeting their name will be listed. If they explained to Miss Dempsey that they couldn’t come their name will be in the apologies  section and if they just didn’t bother showing up, they will be marked as absent.

Glossary
We try to be very professional in the Council so we use a lot of business words. Hopefully this will help.

  • Agenda – a list of things to talk about
  • Councillor – someone who has been voted for to work for their class mates on the school Council
  • Minutes – the notes taken during a meeting so people can see what goes on
  • Motion – an idea for the Council to discuss

What School Council Representatives Have To Do
The things you’ll be expected to do are …

  • speak on behalf of the rest of your class
  • make important decisions about all sorts of things
  • attend regular meetings and give up your own time to do project work
  • take everyone’s comments seriously
  • make sure the minutes are displayed in your class
  • report back to your class all of the decisions that the Council make

The Perfect School Council Representative
The kind of person you need to be is …

  • approachable; that is someone that other people feel comfortable talking to
  • cheerful and enthusiastic
  • someone who gets along well with people
  • has good concentration
  • responsible
  • helpful
  • a good listener (look at the person who’s talking)
  • someone who can explain something well
  • fair
  • someone who respects other people’s ideas ~ be open minded
  • kind
  • confident ~ don’t be shy
  • doesn’t think about themselves and what they want ~ you’re there to speak for everyone
  • patient
  • reliable
  • creative
  • understanding

Play Leaders

At St Mary’s, our Play Leaders play an important role in making playtimes happy, safe, and inclusive for everyone. These responsible and caring pupils help younger children to join in games, make new friends, and solve small problems with kindness and respect. By encouraging teamwork and fairness, our Play Leaders help to create a playground where everyone feels welcome and valued.

Together, these groups embody our commitment to nurturing hearts, minds, and spirits, and inspire their peers to live out our Catholic values in meaningful ways. The Pupil Leadership Team at St Teresa’s not only enhances our school community but also extends our reach, showing that even small actions, when done with great love, can make a significant difference.