Junior School Student Council meet for the new academic year

On Tuesday, 14 September, the Aga Khan Academy Maputo’s Junior School students held their first Student Council meeting for the new academic year. These students were elected by their colleagues to represent the voices of their respective classes and to lead by example.  

“All students get to vote in an example of free and fair elections,” Primary Year’s Programme Coordinator Emma Wheatley explained. “Representatives from each class are then asked to gather the voices and opinions of their classmates, and the student council then meets to take these voices forwards into our meetings.” 

Emma and Early Year’s Coordinator Edna Margarido facilitated the meeting and started it by explaining the basic rules and procedures of the Student Council to the students.   

The students then briefly introduced themselves and stated why they decided to run for the Student Council. The students shared similar answers, some of which included “to inspire and solve problems for our colleagues”, “to help make the school a better place”, “to meet new people” and “to become role models by guiding with kindness and care.” The students also broke the ice by sharing what animal they would be and why if they could be any animal.  

After this, the students began to tackle their first problem as Junior School Council: how to encourage their colleagues to become more active during their break times. The students wrote down their initial thoughts, and decided to share their final ideas during their next meeting.  

“The Student Council is a great opportunity to practice some of the leadership skills our students have been developing here at the Academy,” Emma said. “This is a powerful way to practice being leaders, stewards and overall courageous — all of which are important parts of being an International Baccalaureate PYP learner and an Aga Khan Academy Maputo student.”