Pupil power

Here's a story that probably won't get too much attention. But it represents a very important change in how our schools are run. Andrew Adonis, the schools minister is today hailing the value of school councils, where students learn responsibility through taking some for the running of their schools. When such stories reach the media, it is usually through scornful pieces about pupils telling teachers what to do or snitching to inspectors. But this is a far more important development than that. School councils are one of the best ways of maximising a school's success in getting through to pupils, in improving discipline and respect, and in teaching the sort of 'soft skills' the lack of which are regularly bemoaned by our business leaders. Let's hear it for pupil power (and responsibility)!