Welcome to Our Schools Our Rules

Schools are a community. Students, teachers, parents, staff and local authorities all have a stake in education- they are all of OUR schools. Yet the people that schools exist to support do not have a say in how they are run. Either locally or nationally. Rules are often created without student voice and sanctions applied without assessing the effects on all students. Parents and carers see the impact of school policies and deal with any fallout, their views are not fully heard either.

Our Schools Our Rules is a new national campaign set up entirely by young people. Our aim is to redefine how the education system engages with young people so that they can have meaningful involvement in creating new education policy.

Putting youth voice into Education

Here are a few of the issues that students have told us affect their engagement with, and enjoyment of, school. But students are not involved with creating the solutions. We would love to hear your thoughts on these and any other issues that you have experienced.

• Detentions/ sanctions – Time and time again we hear that detentions do not work to alter behaviour – the research evidence backs this up. Students see sanctions as outdated, ridiculous and a hangover from corporal punishment. In some cases detentions can be given out for inconsequential ‘infractions’ such as not having the right coloured pen, and young people slowly but surely lose all respect for rules and their schools.

• Homework – Learning at home can help to consolidate learning, but it currently takes up too much of a young person’s personal time and destroys that much needed barrier between school and home life. Some homework assignments feel like ‘busy work’ and do little to support learning. Homework often neglects that many students do not have a suitable environment to do homework and this creates tension at home, panic and perhaps shame if they just can’t meet that deadline.

• Uniform – We acknowledge that having a uniform can help reduce the stress of choosing clothes in the morning, reduce bullying for not having cool enough clothes and may reduce costs for many families. But does the uniform have to be a suit and tie? Young people need movement and comfort, not corporate cosplay! There is an argument for students to look like they belong, but we do not need to look like office workers – many jobs no longer have such a restrictive dress code.  

Putting youth voice into Education

We want to hear your thoughts about how youth voice can shape education, here are some of our initial campaign asks:

• The creation of Youth Led Unit in the Department for Education to be involved in policy development.
• All schools to have a School Council that is integrated into the Senior Leadership, governance and running of their schools.
• For all schools to undertake assessments of the impact of new policies and rules on the lives of students, their health, well-being, and on their families.
• For all students to have easy and accessible routes to give their view on how their school is run and on national policy.