Academic Excellence

Student Leadership

Student Leadership at Kingsmead​

At Kingsmead School we believe in nurturing innovation and high-quality learners through the development of personal growth and leadership. All students will be given the chance to develop their leadership skills and personality characteristics in preparation for a contemporary and challenging world. We strongly believe that leadership and personal development are connected; great leaders are people with good personal strength, resilience, innovation and mindfulness.​

The qualities we develop allow students to live, collaborate and learn with others with a positive and mindful moral code. The programme enables students to recognise how to behave morally, for the right reasons and in the correct way. The aim of Student Leadership is to make sure that our students are able to thrive and become their best self.

We ensure students know what it is that makes a good and mindful person. This happens in a number of ways, some of which include: ​

  • Working in and supporting the local community​
  • Understanding and following laws and rules​
  • Respecting and standing up for the rights of others​
  • Being mindful or others and their property​
  • Taking responsibility for their own actions

During the academic year all students are educated in leadership, public speaking, resilience, innovation, mindfulness and employability. They get the opportunity to take part in the democratic process, voting for representatives, leaders and captains. These tutorials and activities not only take place in lessons but in a purpose-built tutor group curriculum.​

Our leadership activities are aimed at developing self-confidence, self-esteem and personal responsibility in our students. There are specific roles for which students apply and are then elected by means of a democratic process. Students are voted for by staff or by their peers depending on the role. The programme is designed to be student-orientated. Student leaders work closely with staff in order to prioritise issues and projects that are important to the specific year group or area. ​
 ​ 

​Student Leadership Accreditation

The Student Leadership Accreditation (SLA) is an innovative way of recognising students’ leadership skills and the impact that they have in the classroom, across the school, and in the wider community. Students assess themselves against this framework and then actively seek opportunities to advance themselves and gather evidence to showcase their new skills in a portfolio.

Students can work towards the SLA at three levels: bronze, silver, and gold. This process encourages students to:  ​

  • Critically self-reflect on their own skills as leaders

  • Work collaboratively to plan how they will meet the criteria and evidence it

  • Organise and structure their evidence

  • Peer assess others’ work against criteria

  • Aspire to take on increasingly challenging leadership responsibilities.

  • To become more engaged and therefore autonomous learners, particularly those that are underperforming.

 

Student Council

The Student Council is made up of a broad range of Kingsmead Students. This allows us to gain the opinions and judgments from students, an important part of what makes Kingsmead successful. 


The council is led by Mrs Beech along with our Head Students. They are supported by the Deputy Head Students and the remaining student council members. The council have devised their own School Improvement Plan using their own judgements. These targets, which link to the RIME values, are worked on throughout the year. Each one starts with intent, students plan what they can do to make improvements, this then follows through to implementation of their ideas, making those improvements and finally, students measure the impact ​their improvements have had, reporting to the Senior Leaders on a termly basis.​

 

RIME Funding

Students are the most important stakeholders in our school, so they should have a say in how resources are used and how our school develops. Three times a year, staff can apply for funding from the RIME Fund to support their initiatives and projects. These applications are first shortlisted by the Student Council and then presented in a final pitch round to the Council. This process gives students a voice in shaping the school, a sense of responsibility, and the opportunity to influence what they believe is important. In previous years, this approach has led to new developments across the school, including 3D printers, podcasting equipment, VR headsets, and more. By managing this funding, our student leaders gain hands-on experience in leadership and decision-making while helping to build a school they truly want to be part of.