Case study: Tecoma Primary School
Student voice is at the centre of everything at Tecoma Primary School (TPS) and every Grade 6 student has a leadership role. Hear from the students at Tecoma Primary School in our video interview below.
School size: 450 students
School type: government, Foundation – Grade 6
Student voice and agency
The TPS Student Action Team (SAT), report to the School Improvement Team (SIT) as the voice of the student body.
Grade 6 leaders make up an Executive Committee of the SAT and each class votes for their class representative. Representatives bring ideas and feedback from their classes to meetings and work on projects that the school has underway.
Class meetings are run by the SAT, focusing on issues and ideas for learning, the classroom and whole school improvement.
The SAT has been involved in workshops discussing what a good lesson looks like to influence teacher planning documentation, naming and creating a plaque for our Buddy Bench, and will be facilitating meetings in each class to develop new school values.
You can download the Powerpoint used in the meeting below!
Grade 5 and 6 students work with the teaching team on planning days to reflect on what they liked and what could be improved or changes in the presentation and facilitation of lessons. This led to changes in the set up of Google Classroom during remote learning that made navigation easier.
Student leadership
TPS has a whole school leadership program that runs each week. Grade 6 students plan and run lessons according to their role. Sports captains run the Sports Education in Physical Education Program (SEPEP) for Grades 3 and 4, and captains for performing arts, visual arts, computer, environment, junior sport, and wellbeing run programs for Grades 1 and 2.
TPS also has a Junior School Council, which is responsible for organising event days and philanthropic activities.
This case study is drawn from VicSRC's Student Voice Awards, an annual celebration of best practice student voice, amplifying the important contribution of students to Victorian education and acting as a catalyst for change within Victorian schools.