On 24th March Mr Roberts, Ryan Perry and Madi Burt were invited to the DCSF office in Westminster to meet Vernon Croaker, Minister of State for Schools and Learners, working with Ed Balls, the Cabinet Minister for Education.
At 3.30pm we were ushered into the frosted glass box entitled ‘The Minister’s Office’. Mr Croaker was extremely welcoming and sympathetic to the whole idea of Rights, Respect and Responsibility in schools. He praised Portchester for being the first secondary school to achieve level 2 and asked how we had achieved this status. Ryan explained about the school and its surrounding area; he talked about the students, parents and teachers in the school. Madi gave examples of the impact over the last five years of the work done by the School Council and the R, R & R Group. Both students also spoke well about how this work has changed them personally; making them more confident and self assured and able to consider children, not only here in the UK, but also in other less privileged countries in the world.
The Minister said that Portchester was a ‘role model for all secondary schools throughout the country’ and asked how he could use his influence to further UNICEF’s aim of including more schools in the scheme. Mr Roberts mentioned the importance of Ofsted in acknowledging this kind of work in their reports on schools. He said that more schools would welcome R, R & R if they knew Ofsted would comment favourably on such developments. The Minister said he would contact Ofsted with this message.
Anita Tiessen from UNICEF was very impressed with the quality of input by the Portchester students. She praised them in front of the Minister, his Civil Servants and the Director of the National Children’s Bureau.
The Minister, who had just dashed from the House of Commons where he had been supporting the Government during the reading of the Budget, promised at least one hour of his time and made a point of giving our students every opportunity to talk to him about the work at Wicor Recreation Ground, Port Solent, with our local MP, County Councillors and in the school’s meetings and assemblies. He said the school seemed to be promoting community cohesion through student democracy.
After the meeting one of his Civil Servants came to speak to Ryan and Madi and she asked them to write an account of their work in the R, R & R Group for a Government document on student voice in changing schools.
Once again I was proud to represent this school.
Mr A J Roberts
Deputy Headteacher