At Ullerødskolen we have a student council. Here we work with students´ participation in a democratic process.

The Council meet every month, first coming Monday. A yearly plan for the meetings is created in the beginning of a school year. These meetings are seldomly cancelled, they are viewed just as important and valuable to the school´s everyday life as any other meetings. The Student Council have two representatives at the School Board for Ullerødskolen and participate for the first 20 minutes of three board meetings a year.

Each class have a representative in the Student Council and this gives an age span from six to 17 years old. The participants are elected in their own classes before attending the school year's first gathering. At the first meeting we introduce each representative and have them give a little speech on their motives for running for election to the Council.

Working with student democracy is a very important part of the whole project and therefore each new Council year starts with an introduction course in democratic processes. Here we use a powerpoint on "who has the right to decide in the school". Based on a concrete case story, the representatives are introduced to the school's organisation and decisive structure, and also where you as a student can gain influence. On this day we also work with Law material for schools (Folkeskole-loven) and who has the overall power in the whole school system. The students are also introduced to a "Staircase-model" showing the steps from a common decision on an work-idea over planning a concrete task till reaching the final goal - initializing a project.

Generally students are encouraged to present thorough plans for their wishes and ideas before presenting them for the rest of the Student Council - only thorough plans can one expect others to spend time working with. Sometimes plans need adjustment, to fit what is possible and realistic in the time/money given.

A key stone is to give the student Council real influence. Meetings are student run, and adult participation are based on guidance and supervision, rather than being the ones that take the decisions. Students are encourage to follow their ideas and find out if they are viable or useless. The school prioritize in launching thorough projects from the Student Council.

What we expect from a student representative:

• Be ready to voice your views in front of other mebers of the Council
• Be ready to listen - even though you do not agree
• Come prepared. Have discussed the meeting's topics with your classmates
• Act as an representative. Present the class´ opinions and view even if they are different to your own.

 The students are introduced to:

• Take responsibility
• How democracy works in practise
• Have influence on life in the school
• How to run a meeting
• Constructive criticism, both positive and negative
• Not all good ideas are realizable
  

Examples of activities the Student Council has initiated - and planned:

• A market place - where money go to charity
• An all school "Olympic Games"
• Christmas decorations competition
• Involved in design of our new playground
• Send application to funds for airhockey table
• Film afternoons for the whole school
  

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