Resources: Review - How to get pupils involved in running theschool

It demystifies what can be meant by "pupil participation" and explains a variety of methodologies, each with a very useful "top tips" section.

It also advises on how to approach working within schools, provides exercises and suggests other resources.

Although based on research in two specialist schools in Edinburgh, there is nothing that cannot be applied anywhere else in the UK. But I was not entirely convinced as to how helpful this may be for a teacher in a mainstream school - there is not much on how to integrate pupils in a mixed setting.

The toolkit does state that it "isn't a blueprint or panacea, just a starting point". The methodologies section has a range of useful ideas, but is by no means exhaustive. Most of the methods listed have an adult-led emphasis - for example, although mentoring is mentioned, peer mentoring is not. "Pupil-initiated projects" is listed as separate from "pupil councils", and there is little mention of how to ensure that the pupil council has a sound structure. It is suggested that the class rep is supported to feed back and gather the views of other pupils, but class council meetings - where every pupil would be involved in a decision-making body - are not mentioned.