NICCY: Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People

Democra School

What is a Democra School?

Democra-School is a programme designed to support and encourage the development of meaningful school councils and the practice of democracy in the school environment
Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child says that children and young people should have a say in decisions that affect their lives
Experience from schools in Northern Ireland, England and further afield shows that a school council that is supported and nurtured helps and improves many aspects of school life.
As part of NICCY’s legislation is to make sure children and young people can participate in key decisions that affect them we developed Democra-School
On May1st 2007 NICCY launched a Democra-School guidance pack (see below) which shows how practical steps can be taken to involve pupils in school council
The pack was developed with the co-operation and involvement of teachers, pupils, and key officials at board and department level
Every school in Northern Ireland received a copy of the pack

Why Democra –School?

Democracy in schools, mainly through school councils have become an increasingly common feature in primary, post-primary and special schools and their benefits have been highlighted by a range of educational bodies and organizations including DfEE Advisory Group on Citizenship (1998), the Secondary Heads Association (2003) and Ofsted (2006).

Pupils have a valuable contribution to make in ensuring the effectiveness of their school. Their involvement in the running of the school, is itself a valuable part of the education process.

School councils provide one mechanism through which opportunities can be given to promote children and young people’s participation and to encourage their understanding of citizenship.

Democra School Update (November 2011)

The Commissioner is continuing her work to make real, participative democracy for pupils available in schools, through this, her Democra School campaign.

She gave evidence to the Committee for Education on 16th November as part of the committee’s inquiry into school councils. You can find out more about this by reading the press release here.

This follows considerable work with schools, teachers unions, and officials at the Department of Education, MLAs and Ministers

She said: “The Committee for Education has taken a huge step towards making sure that children and young people can have effective, creative and appropriate input into their school lives,” she said.

“Having spoken to the chair of the committee and members in the past I am delighted that they are taking forward this inquiry, and I hope it will complement and develop upon the work that I have been undertaking for a number of years.”

You can view the Commissioners evidence to the Committee here, you can also view the document in MS Word format

You can read her full statement here welcoming the inquiry.

Democra School has already taken off in many schools, helping them to develop participative programmes that really work. Use the links below to find out more about how you can get your school involved.

Democra School Guidance Pack

You can view the Democra School Guidance pack here, this includes:

A4 folder- HAVING YOUR SAY - GUIDANCE FOR SCHOOL COUNCILS
Insert 1- EVERYONE HAVING A SAY!
Insert 2- EVERYONE GETTING INVOLVED!
Insert 3- VOTE FOR ME!
Insert 4- MAKING IT WORK
Insert 5- COMMIT TO IT!
Insert 6- TRAIN ME PLEASE!
Insert 7- REPORTING TO YOU!
Insert 8- FROM TOP TO BOTTOM!
Insert 9- LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE!
A2 poster- The journey to form a school council (aimed at primary school children)

You can read the press release about the launch of the guidance here and the Commissioner's speech here.

Information Resources

We also have a number of additional resources which you can download here:

Tell Us What You Think

We would very much welcome your feedback on the Guidance so please tell use what you think here.

Web Painting with NICCY

We have also developed a web based interactive version of the Democra School Guidance poster. This is a fun and eductional resource that teachers and leaders can use to help children learn more about what a school council is. Select this link to colour in online the cartoons from our Democra School poster. Once you have coloured in each cartoon they can be printed out for fun or further discussion.

If you would like to find out more or have any questions please contact a member of the Participation Team on 028 9031 1616 or participation@niccy.org.