Michael Bracey is on a quest to find shining examples of student participation in Southend. They will go into a booklet he is writing to celebrate good practice.

I've been exchanging emails with Sam this week. Sam's a student at a local special school and she's been telling me all about how her school supports students with disabilities to make a positive contribution.

And I have to say that Sam and her friends are involved in an impressive range of activities. Recently they have helped raise money for local good causes, advised the school on educational events and activities that students would like to see organised, and provided feedback on the school menu.

But Sam's school isn't the only one that's really getting to grips with student participation. Sam is just one of the many people I've come across in my search for examples of good practice to go into a new booklet celebrating student voice that I'm putting together.

So far I've found a school that uses peer education to train up younger students to undertake action research in the community, one that has completely redesigned its playground with the help of a group of seven-year-olds, and a surprising number of schools who routinely involve young people in the recruitment of staff, including senior management appointments.

But although some schools have been developing student participation for years and have become very good at it, for many others it has only recently started to move up the agenda, helped on its way by the interest that Ofsted now takes in student voice and participation during school inspections.

If you haven't seen it, the new self-evaluation that all secondary schools are required to complete is worth a look. Section two focuses on the views of learners, parents, carers and other stakeholders and asks schools what could be some very challenging questions about how they gather the views of young people and what they then do with that information.

We're hoping our booklet will celebrate some of the good practice going on across the town and encourage schools that need to improve to learn from others. Enabling young people to make a positive contribution isn't difficult - it just takes time. The majority of schools are up for it.

And for those that aren't, there is always an impending inspection to concentrate the mind.

Michael Bracey is principal youth officer for Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, michael.bracey@haynet.com.