A complete guide to Pupil Voice

What is pupil voice? 

‘Pupil voice’ is the idea that students have easy, effective, and accessible ways to express their opinions, ideas, and worries about their education and school environment. It gives children and young people the opportunity to shape decisions that affect their learning, wellbeing, and school experience. It recognises that students are key stakeholders in the educational process and that their input should be valued and used to shape policies, practices and their learning. 

Why is pupil voice important in schools?

Pupil voice gives pupils a sense of ownership and engagement in their education and their school community. By valuing and incorporating student feedback, schools can create a more inclusive, supportive, and effective learning environment that addresses the needs of everyone within it. Some benefits include:

• Improves pupils’ engagement with their learning which in turn improves learning outcomes

• Helps pupils develop skills such as critical thinking, communication, and leadership skills

• Aligns decisions to the needs and experiences of pupils, leading to more effective and relevant strategies. 

• Create a more positive school culture and environment through actively listening to and dressing pupils’ feedback

• Enhances relationships between pupils and staff by nurturing mutual respect and understanding, and creating a more collaborative and harmonious school community

What does Ofsted say about Pupil Voice?

Ofsted emphasises the importance for schools to actively seek and listen to pupils’ views and experiences so that they can take action, address concerns and improve the overall school culture. There are three key points from Ofsted’s framework that highlight the importance of Pupil Voice in schools. 

1. Listening to Students - does your school have mechanisms in place for listening to students and acting on their feedback.

2. Impact on School Improvement - how can you demonstrate how pupil feedback has contributed to school improvement plans and created tangible improvements in policies, practices, and the school environment?

3. Inclusivity - can you ensure that all students including those with disabilities, special educational needs, and vulnerable groups have opportunities to share their ideas, feedback, and concerns? 

How to align with Ofsted’s expectations of Pupil Voice

Establish clear pupil voice channels

Create regular and structured opportunities for students to share their views, such as school councils, feedback surveys, and digital channels. We’ve shared more ideas below! 

Demonstrate you act on pupil feedback

Create clear systems that allow you to demonstrate how pupil feedback has led to changes and improvements in school. 

Promote an inclusive culture

Make sure your pupil voice channels are accessible to all, including those with special educational needs, disabilities and those from diverse backgrounds. 

Provide regular staff training and CPD

Give staff regular opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills so that they can effectively facilitate pupil voice activities and respond constructively to pupil feedback.

Examples of Pupil Voice in school

There are a range of different initiatives and ideas that schools can use to gather pupil voice. Remember - it’s good to have a mix of formal and informal methods for pupil voice to make sure every pupil has a channel they feel comfortable using to speak up. By embedding pupil voice within your school, you will be able to create an educational environment that supports student growth and development. Take a look at the best pupil voice examples the tootoot team have seen from our customers. 

Student Councils and Committees

Create a student council, or specific interest groups, that meet regularly with your SLT to talk about issues and suggest improvements. Keep in mind that your groups should be representative of your student population.

Classroom Discussions

Encourage your teachers to integrate pupil voice discussions into everyday classroom activities. Look for ways to include open discussion where students have an opportunity to express themselves and voice their opinions on lesson content, teaching methods, and more. Take a look at our free teaching resources to get started.

Pupil Surveys

Running regular pupil surveys will help you get feedback from pupils around specific topics, supporting decision making and helping you shape your school culture around pupils’ needs.

Digital Pupil Voice Tools

Digital platforms give pupils the ability to speak up whenever they need to, ensuring they can always make their voice heard. Use digital platforms - such as tootoot’s pupil voice messenger - to allow pupils to submit ideas, opinions, and worries confidentially if they prefer. 

Student Panels

Include pupils in the interview process for a new member of staff. Give pupils an opportunity to ask questions about their personality and teaching style, and help them learn more about how the interviewee feels they will fit into the new school.

Pupil Recognition and Celebrations

Look for opportunities where you can celebrate and recognise pupil contributions to the school community. Think about how you can highlight examples when student voice has led to positive change. Use communication channels such as assemblies, form time, newsletters, social media, and the pupil newspaper to showcase the impacts. 

Enhance Pupil Voice with tootoot

Tootoot provides young people with a discreet and confidential platform to speak-up, share ideas, and talk about any worries or concerns. Tootoot has been independently evaluated and has been proven to increase staff confidence to support pupil messages by 66%.

Our pupil voice survey feature gives an additional route to gather pupil feedback and demonstrate how you’re effectively creating change for your school community. Speak to the tootoot team today about how we can support your Pupil Voice strategy.