Student Leadership

Promoting Active Citizens - Developing Leaders

We place great importance on developing young leaders. We give pupils the opportunity to develop key skills which will be essential for many aspects of their lives. We also promote the development of a sense of social responsibility in our pupils by encouraging them to be meaningful contributors in the local and global community. Many of our young people have outstanding leadership potential and, throughout their school career, we provide the opportunity for them to develop leadership qualities and skills.

The Pupil Leadership Team

This team of Year 14 students is nominated by staff and pupils to become leaders of the student body. Following a rigorous selection process involving a written submission and interview, they are allocated roles within the team. The Leadership Team strives to promote inclusion and friendship in Cross and Passion. These students bring many positive qualities and attributes to their role and represent the rich diversity of talents that make up the Cross and Passion College School Community. They are given the opportunity to develop key leadership skills while feeling their voice is being listened to and their opinions valued and respected.

They have opportunities to:

Represent the pupil community at public events
Become involved in public speaking
Lead and organise pupil activities - collaborative inductions to Year 11 and 13 pupils
Organise and plan the contribution of pupils to open evenings
Engage in mentoring programmes with younger pupils
Play an active role in planning and organising aspects of sixth form provision
Be positive role models and a source of inspiration for younger pupils

School Council – Student Voice

We believe that our pupil community has much to contribute to the plans we make to improve and enhance the quality of young people’s experience in Cross and Passion. Student Elections are held each year for membership of the Student Council. At present pupils contribute to planning and evaluation in the following areas of school life:

Teaching and learning
Pupil welfare
Extra activities/extra curricular experiences
Development of whole school policies

The opinions of our pupils are actively sought through questionnaires and focus group discussions. The Council also focuses on a specific charity each year and organises fundraising events for pupils in school to attend and enjoy.

Joint School Council

In 2010, we established a Joint School Council between Cross and Passion College and Ballycastle High School. The aim of the Council is to deal directly with the collaboration between the two schools, to listen to the voice of the pupils involved to ensure they are having as positive an experience as possible. The Joint school council is always busy dealing with any concerns pupils any have and discovering new ways to which enhance the collaboration further.

Learning Mentors

Senior pupils are strongly encouraged to become involved in the Learning Mentor Scheme, which enables them to make a positive contribution to the life of the school:

They work in pairs with junior pupils under the direction of a teacher
They offer support at lunchtime for English, Reading and Mathematics
They support younger pupils with revision
They become involved in Primary School Reading Programmes
They act as ‘buddies’ for the Year 8 pupils through the 'Cara' system

Prefects

Prefects serve a very important role within Cross and Passion. Prefects are elected at the beginning of each term. They then attend training sessions where their role and expectations with the life of the school are outlined. Again, this gives pupils of all ages the opportunity to develop key leadership skills which will prove invaluable to them in the future.

Sports Leadership

The PE department offers a range of opportunities for pupils to develop leadership skills and achieve worthwhile qualifications at all key stages. These include:

Opportunities to lead ‘warm up’ and 'cool down' activities in lessons
Organisation of tournaments for younger pupils
Community Sports Leader Award (Post-16)
Coaching awards in a range of sports