Developing Pupil Leadership Skills

Our pupils are at the forefront of everything we do; listening to their feedback is an integral part of ensuring we, as a school, make their school lives as enjoyable and as successful as possible. At the heart of this is our magnificent Pupil Teaching and Learning group, a group dedicated to continuously evaluating all aspects of our school. Working closely with staff, the group meet regularly to support quality assurance. One of the most significant roles the group play is providing Pupil Voice with their feedback capturing the views and opinions of pupils from all year groups. Acting as a voice for all of our pupils, their feedback captures the views of at least 25% of our pupil body, ensuring their feedback is valid, accurate and robust. 

Our Pupil Teaching and Learning group, therefore, is a source of immense pride and has improved so many aspects of our school. Their maturity, diligence and approach to gathering evidence-based data is a credit to the fantastic young people we are so fortunate to work with.

Pupil Teaching and Learning group’s vision

“Our aim is to provide our fellow pupils with the opportunity to demonstrate honesty and use their voices to shape our school’s future. Using their classroom and whole school experience, we can respectfully, through reflection, promote change to enhance the learning of pupils. Our group will provide a resilient foundation to gather key findings that will help adapt pedagogy and foster a diverse and adaptable school environment, accessible to all.”

Ofsted, February 2023 –

Leaders value the views of pupils. For example, the pupils who are part of the ‘teaching and learning group’ meet with senior leaders to tell them about their experiences in lessons. Leaders use this feedback, along with other monitoring, to continuously improve pupils’ experiences in school.

What have we done and what do we do?

Whilst we meet every week to discuss all aspects of our school life, some of the things we’ve done – or some of the things we do regularly – are:

• Visited Parliament
• Presented to governors
• Regularly meet with SLT, discussing things like:
  • Rewards
  • Formative assessment
  • Feedback
  • Independent learning
  • Extra-Curricular activities
  • Good practice to support learning and progress
• Presented to external assessors moderating our school’s inclusivity and also our use of formative assessment
• Given feedback to our local MP
• Gather Pupil Voice to quality assure different aspects of our school
• Give all pupils a platform where their voices can be heard, respected and valued.

Junior Leadership Team 2025-26

This year we have selected a group of superb pupils to represent Northfield School under the banner of the Junior Leadership Team (JLT).  The process of selection was very robust, providing all candidates with an opportunity to experience the rigours of interviews and applications.  The JLT were chosen from the Year 11 prefect cohort and their selection included a written application, a formal interview with the school’s Senior Leadership Team and a public speaking exercise in front of staff.  The successful pupils were allocated roles in relation to their strengths and personal qualities.  The roles are aspirational and are clearly differentiated to support the corporate life of the school in a variety of capacities.  The JLT provide a myriad of services that include the school council, as figure heads for the pupil body and coordinating rewards, events and projects across the school.  The JLT is comprised of the Head Pupils, Deputy Head Pupils, Head Prefects and the new Ambassadors.  The JLT will introduce themselves below and provide an insight into their individual roles and responsibilities. 

Head Pupils:  Ava Piercy & Tom Johnson

Our role is to represent the school at various important occasions including parents’ evenings, options evenings and Christmas events.  We are also part of the Pupil and Teaching learning group, which helps support and enhance pupil experiences at Northfield.  We also have frequent meetings with members of staff to share our and the group’s views on teaching and learning, helping inform good practice at Northfield.  We strive to be role models and inspire pupils in younger years that achievement and good values can have a lasting impact on individual success. 

Deputy Head Pupils:  Grace Olsen & Imoshi Soyza

Our role is to provide a voice for pupils throughout the school by attending the pupil teaching learning group and supporting the school council.  Here, we discuss projects in the school and provide a forum for pupil voice.  We have been involved in initiatives that support independent learning, we quality assure resources and provide feedback on rewards.  We are excellent role models for our peers and want to help pupils achieve their full potential in all aspects of school life.

Head Prefects:  Ella Suleman, Dylan Baker and Charlie Goodwin.  

We represent and help coordinate the cohort of prefects at Northfield by ensuring all prefect projects are complete.  These are small initiatives that each prefect contributes to for the overall benefit of the school.  It might include being a reading leader or helping at a  duty point, but we hope to raise their profile by supporting their ideas and liaising with staff.  We also help at extracurricular clubs, parents’ evenings and school events.  We are approachable and organised, and we look to raise the profile of prefects across the school. 

Additional Roles for 2025/26

In addition to the JLT (Junior Leadership Team), this year, Northfield School & Sports College, has introduced three new Pupil Ambassador roles to recognise pupil leadership, commitment, and pride in our school community.

Our ambassadors Logan Rudman, Lucy Mulloy, and Hallie Murray work closely together to support events, student wellbeing, and personal development across the school.

Logan Rudman – Events Ambassador

Hi, I’m Logan Rudman, your Events Ambassador at Northfield School & Sports College. If there’s an event happening, you can guarantee I’ll be there. From parents’ evenings, school productions, fayres, open events and much more, I’m always involved, working behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly.

My role is all about creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere. I am always there to support both pupils and staff with a smile, helping events run successfully and ensuring everyone feels comfortable, valued, and welcomed. I take great pride in representing Northfield, bringing a positive attitude, energy, and a Northfield smile to everything I do.

Lucy Mulloy – PLC (Pupil Learning Centre) Ambassador

My name is Lucy Mulloy, and I am the PLC (Pupil Learning Centre) Ambassador. My role is to provide support, guidance, and encouragement to pupils, helping them gain access to the PLC and feel confident using the support available to them.

I was given this role by demonstrating resilience, dedication, and consistent commitment to supporting others. I work closely with pupils and staff to create a safe, calm, and positive environment, ensuring pupils feel listened to, supported, and motivated to succeed.

Hallie Murray – Personal Growth & Development Ambassador

My name is Hallie Murray, and I am the Personal Growth and Development Ambassador at Northfield School & Sports College. In this role, I promote self-improvement, resilience, emotional wellbeing, and lifelong learning across our school community.

I support and organise initiatives that encourage goal-setting, positive mindset development, leadership skills, and emotional wellbeing. I work closely with pupils and teachers to deliver workshops, discussions, and activities that help pupils recognise their potential and take meaningful steps toward personal and academic success. I aim to be a positive role model, demonstrating empathy, responsibility, and commitment to continuous growth.

As a team, we work closely together, supporting one another’s roles and contributing to school life in many different ways. These new ambassador roles highlight the dedication, leadership, and pride of Northfield pupils, while strengthening student voice, wellbeing, and community spirit throughout the school.

Our Digital Leaders play a vital role in supporting and shaping the school’s digital strategy. Selected for their enthusiasm, reliability, and strong understanding of technology, these pupils act as ambassadors for digital learning across the school.

Digital Leaders support both staff and pupils in the effective use of technology, including assisting with iPads, helping to troubleshoot minor technical issues, and promoting safe and responsible online behaviour. They also contribute to the development of digital learning by sharing pupil voice, testing new applications, and providing feedback on how technology can enhance teaching and learning in the classroom.

This role is a key part of our wider digital strategy, as it empowers pupils to take ownership of their learning environment while building essential digital literacy and leadership skills. By involving pupils directly, we ensure that our approach to technology remains relevant, innovative, and responsive to the needs of our school community.

Through this initiative, Digital Leaders not only support day-to-day learning but also help to drive forward a culture of independence, collaboration, and responsible digital citizenship.

Over the past few years at Northfield, Sports Leadership has grown considerably with over 40 pupils each year being selected to be involved. Over the course of a year, Year 8 and 9 pupils have the opportunity to take part in a range of sports leaderships events held throughout the Tees Valley, with each selected sports leader taking part in a least one event.

Throughout these activities, they develop their leadership and organisational skills, both of which can be applied to their wider school experiences as well as out of school and in their future careers.

Examples of activities in which they are involved -

• Organising primary school sports events and running activities within them
• Refereeing a range of different sports for primary school competitions
• Planning and leading sports sessions primarily for primary school children
• Helping to organise and referee inter form competitions
• Help to marshal and score school sports day events

Panathlon UK

As well as the above opportunities, we also have a close link with Panathlon UK, a national organisation that runs numerous different sports events for pupils with disabilities. Sports Leaders from our school have the opportunity to be involved in running these events which include Multi Skills competitions, New Age Kurling, Boccia, Swimming Galas and Bowling.

Dance Leadership

At Northfield, pupils who attend dance club with Mrs Cairney have the opportunity to be involved in a primary dance festival where they will teach different dance styles to groups of primary aged pupils, as well as performing some dance pieces to them.

Northfield School Library has an enthusiastic team of Pupil Librarians who help daily during break, lunchtime and after school assisting in the daily running of the library and supporting a love of reading.

Pupils can join the team in Year 8 through an application process. We then offer training and they are mentored by the more experienced Pupil Librarians.

Responsibilities and duties

• Issuing and returning books using the library management system.
• Helping pupils and staff find books and recommend great reads.
• Tidying the library, shelving returned books, and repairing damaged items.
• Suggesting new books, authors, genres.
• Preparing new stock and withdrawing out of date books from circulation.
• Helping create library displays and assisting at events such as author visits and world book day.

Benefits

• Pupil librarians gain confidence and build self-esteem through the role.
• They develop important life skills and personal qualities in a real-life context.
• Responsibility, organisation, time keeping,
• Be part of a team and make new friendships.

• Are positive role model for other pupils.

Our Pupil Librarians embody the school values, they are rewarded for their time and effort, with badges, Pupil Librarian of the term prize and unique events and opportunities such as author visits. They help support our school reading culture and raise the profile of the library.

We asked the Pupil Librarians themselves what was good about their role and why they enjoy it?  This is what they said -

'The library is a community of like-minded people'

'I learn important skills that can help advance myself'

'I like to be helpful'

'You get to be part of fun and unique experiences'

'You get to meet people with similar interests'

'In the library I can express my love of literature'

Our Year Nine Reading Leaders play a vital role in our reading intervention programme, supporting pupils who join Northfield with a lower reading age. This well-established initiative pairs Year Nine volunteers with a Year Seven “reading buddy,” creating a supportive and encouraging environment for developing literacy skills.

Reading Leaders take on a range of responsibilities, including helping their buddy stay organised, ensuring they are reading appropriately levelled books, and accompanying them to the library to select new reading material. Each Tuesday, during Morning Form Time, pairs meet in the Year Seven building to read together and build confidence.

Reading Leaders receive training in key reading strategies, enabling them to effectively support their buddies with decoding unfamiliar words, understanding vocabulary, improving fluency, and developing comprehension skills.

After one term, Reading Leaders “graduate” from their current pairing and are given the opportunity to support a new Year Seven pupil, allowing the programme to benefit as many students as possible.

To recognise their commitment and contribution, Reading Leaders are rewarded with incentives such as a book of their choice. Recently, they were also invited to attend a creative writing workshop led by a visiting author.

Our Reading Leaders demonstrate outstanding dedication and represent the school with pride each week.

For more information, please contact, Mrs Emmerson, Literacy Lead  aemmerson@northfieldssc.org.