Student Leadership
At Cranbourne our vision is 'excellence in everything'. A key aspect of our vision is the development of our students' characters. We want all students to develop their leadership skills and understand the importance of using their voice within our community.
We firmly believe that when students feel comfortable and are empowered to share their ideas and opinions, they grow in confidence, self-esteem and develop leadership skills which help them to thrive in our modern world.
Another purpose of our student leadership programme is to ensure all our students can flourish and they understand the attributes of good citizenship. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Volunteering and being active in the community in which you live
- Acting with integrity
- Following rules and laws
- Respecting the rights of others
- Being informed about the world around you
- Respecting the property of others
- Taking responsibility for your actions
- How to act for causes that you feel passionate about
Student Leadership opportunities
The Union of Cranbourne Students (UCS) is designed so all students have the opportunity to have a voice and become leaders in areas they have an interest in. Students are welcome to attend a number of Union of Cranbourne Students groups, these are:
- Anti-bullying Ambassadors
- British Values / Culture and Diversity leaders
- Green Cranbourne
- LGBTQ+ / Prism group leaders
- Sports Leaders
- Student Librarians
- Young Interpreters
- Mental Health Ambassadors - Due to the nature of this role, this is the only UCS group where formal application is necessary. These Ambassadors are trained by the NHS Mental Health Team and have supervision from Mrs. Ryan.
We also have specific leadership roles for which students apply and are then chosen via a democratic process. These students will attend the termly UCS meetings:
- Head Students and Deputy Head Students are students in Year 11. To apply for these roles, interested students write a formal application to the Headteacher. They are then invited to a formal interview with the Headteacher. Students that are successful in these stages then present their ideas formally to the whole school and are voted into role via a democratic process by staff and students.
- House Captains are students in Year 10. To apply for these roles, interested students formally apply to their Heads of House and then have an interview. Successful students present their ideas to their House in assembly and are chosen by their Head of House and the students in their House via a democratic process.
- House Ambassadors are students in Years 7, 8 and 9. To become a House Ambassador, students present their manifestos to their tutor groups and there is then a democratic vote from their peers and their form tutor.
Student leadership is driven by the vision of our six Head Students; they meet with the Deputy Headteacher on a weekly basis and they organise the agenda and chair our half termly council meetings. In it, students explore a wide variety of topics linked to our school improvement plan, as well as consult on our student focused policies. Most recently this has included our behaviour policy, rewards system and homework policies. Head Students also lead the whole school assemblies at the end of term; presenting awards, celebrating students in our community and entertaining the school.
Finally, our Head Students lead an annual whole-school social action project and raise awareness of an issue that is important to their leadership team. In December 2024, our team led their ‘Christmas Not-Fair’ campaign, to support homeless and vulnerability housed people in our community.
At the end of the campaign they had raised over £400 in donations, and collected just under 400 tins of food, 41 packets of dried pasta, 52 sweet treats, 13 jars of pasta sauce, 27 boxes of cereals, 20 packs of assorted drinks, and a massive box of clothes.