Pupil Leadership

At Mount Stewart, the emphasis on pupil leadership is a cornerstone of the school's culture. Recognising the value of pupil-led initiatives, the school encourages students to take on significant leadership roles, contributing their voices and ideas to the educational process. This approach is integral to shaping the teaching and learning at Mount Stewart Schools, with a vision of nurturing future leaders who are ready for the workplace, prepared for global challenges, and active as contributing citizens.

The Pupil Leadership Team at Mount Stewart Schools consists of various teams dedicated to different aspects of school life. These teams empower students with leadership opportunities, ensuring their perspectives and ideas are heard and valued. The school's ethos revolves around being pupil-led, often incorporating student feedback to enhance learning experiences and overall school life.

Children at Mount Stewart are encouraged to engage in challenging discussions, debate global and school-related issues, and openly share their feelings and opinions. This is facilitated through various channels like pupil voice surveys, learning walks, and suggestion boxes. Feedback from these channels is regularly reviewed and actioned by the leadership team during their meetings.

The leadership teams comprise students assigned to diverse roles, each supported by staff champions within the Curriculum Teams. These teams oversee various school aspects, including curriculum development, student behaviour and well-being, and the school environment. The pupil leaders champion sustainable practices in line with the school’s eco-friendly ethos.

The pupil leadership structure includes several groups: School Council, Lunch Leaders, Sports Leaders, Eco Warriors, Digital Leaders, Reading Champions, Rights Respecting School Ambassadors (RRSA), House Captains, Subject Ambassadors, and Head Students. Each group plays a pivotal role in fostering a collaborative and inclusive school environment, where student input is encouraged and instrumental in guiding school policies and practices.

Through this robust framework of pupil leadership, Mount Stewart is committed to producing confident, articulate leaders capable of applying their skills in real-life contexts, thus preparing them for future challenges and opportunities.

Leadership Skills Challenge

At Mount Stewart, it is our firm belief that all students have the potential to develop leadership skills from an early age. The future workplace will demand more than technical skills and academic credentials. It will require leaders who can collaborate, innovate, communicate, and adapt to changing situations.

To help our children to learn and practice a large variety of life leadership skills and to support leadership development, we run a bespoke program; the Leadership Skills Challenge in KS2

Each challenge has been carefully designed to stretch children and encourage them to work beyond their comfort zones.  These include skills such as Public Speaking, Eco-awareness, Sport and other life skills such as Cookery and Financial Budgeting.  The children are taught some of the necessary skills in school, but many challenges require children to apply independence and display resourcefulness.

Parent Voice

‘Parents talked positively about the school's focus on developing confidence,  independence and resilience. For example, the use of the 7 Rs has developed their whole confidence. Mount Stewart child - e.g. my child is very proud of his achievement and conquered his fear of public speaking.’ - Infant Challenge – Jan 2023

‘Parents are extremely complimentary about the school and they spoke very positively about the leadership roles their children could undertake. Parents mentioned that some of the skills their children have acquired in their roles as leaders were transferrable skills. These would benefit them outside of school life and in their futures in high school and their careers. They said they had seen a huge increase in their children’s confidence and communication skills since being in their respective roles. –Junior Challenge October 2022

“The Skills Challenge is a fantastic initiative that the school has introduced to both the children and families. It is a great opportunity for children to learn life skills and gives them focus on working towards a lifetime award and achievement. It has definitely made my child more independent and confident in dealing with new challenges and situations.”