Student Voice and Agency

At Wangaratta Park Primary School, we are committed to providing our students with a learning environment that inspires them to be their best. An important aspect of school life at WPS is developing student voice and agency, enabling our students to be active contributors in their learning and decision making in our school community. As detailed in the Department of Education ‘Amplify’ document,

 

“All students are empowered to learn and achieve, experiencing high quality teaching practice and the best conditions for learning which equip them with the knowledge, skills and dispositions for lifelong learning and shaping the world around them." Victoria’s vision for learning (Department of Education and Training, 2018).

 

Student voice is not simply about giving students the opportunity to communicate ideas and opinions; it is about students having the power to influence change. Authentic student voice provides opportunities for students to collaborate and make decisions with adults around what and how they learn and how their learning is assessed. This is known to lead to improved educational outcomes.

Student agency refers to the level of autonomy and power that a student experiences in the learning environment. Student voice and agency are intrinsically linked. Agency gives students the power to direct and take responsibility for their learning,creating independent and self-regulating learners.

 

To support the ongoing development of Student Voice and Agency at WPS, we have a Student Representative Council. SRC is led by a Year 6 students and each class from Foundation to Year 6 has a representative. The SRC meets regularly to organise fundraising events throughout the year that support local and children focused groups such as the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday, Anti Bullying Day and Down Syndrome Awareness Day, just to name a few. The SRC also plays an important role in decision-making processes that impact all students. This includes having student's voice and input into aspects such as improvements to be made to play spaces.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

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