CHILDREN from across Westbury, Bratton, and Dilton Marsh recently came together at the Laverton to take part in a morning of activities based on raising aspirations.
Pupils from Matravers, Westbury Leigh, Westbury Junior, Bitham Brook, Bratton, and Dilton Marsh schools all sent up to eight representatives to the Westbury Area Schools Partnership’s ‘Pupils’ Voice Conference’.
Organiser Sarah Hopkins works for the partnership. She said, “It was a fantastic morning; really good. This was the second time we have organised a voice conference, and it went much better than expected.
“Each of the schools sent up to eight pupils to take part in the activities, which were aimed at building confidence. We ran three activities on the day, covering topics like risk-taking, the importance of self belief, learning from mistakes, and not giving up.
“We felt that children who would not normally have been very confident stood up and showed what they were capable of; it was great to see the looks on the pupils’ faces. I’m sure we will be doing it again.”
Activities were split into ‘aiming high’ – where pupils drew round their hands and discussed ups and downs; a session with visiting speaker Tom Robson on having the courage to face the unknown; and a talk from the Laverton team.
On behalf of the team, Laverton development and marketing officer Lilly Bale said, “We are thankful and humbled that we were asked to work with the Pupil Voice Conference. The smiles and laughter of the children was worth every second put into the activities; we are hoping that more schools involve us in more projects of this kind. This is one of the reasons the Laverton was built, and we are more than happy to open our doors again!”
Charley Oliver, secretary at Westbury Leigh Primary School said, “Throughout the morning, the children worked within groups looking at different aspects of learning and how to build resilience, learning power and Westbury as a community.
“Our group of eight children came out of the sessions with a real buzz and will be leading an assembly on everything that they have learnt and taken from the morning next term to the whole school.”
