Student council puts the voices of pupils at centre of everything they do
By Aideen O'Flaherty
Some civic-minded primary school children offered advice to the Mayor of South Dublin County Council, Mark Ward, ahead of the upcoming local elections, when he visited Citywest Educate Together National School on Tuesday to meet the school’s student council and to celebrate autism awareness.
The school’s student council is comprised of six students, who were each elected by their classmates, and they hold monthly meetings with the school principal to discuss school matters.
Mayor Mark Ward with Orinthia,Oisín, Lilly, Jade, Ahmed, Conor, Aidan, Oisn from Citywest ENTS Student Council
and Céire Beehan, Leona McMahon, Anita Coughlan of the Citywest ET Secondary School Campaign Group
Leona McMahon from the Citywest Educate Together Second Level School Campaign told The Echo: “The student council were democratically elected by the other students in the school, and they showed the mayor around the school.
“The student council puts the voices of the children at the centre of everything they do.
“They meet with the principal once a month, then the principal and the teachers respond to the topics that are raised.”
As elected representatives, the students also offered some advice to Mayor Ward ahead of the upcoming local elections.
“The student council are fantastic,” said Mayor Ward. “They showed the school in a fantastic light and made me feel very welcome.
“They gave me some good tips, like keeping your promises and being honest with people…which are things that I do anyway.”
The school, which has an ASD class, also held its own Autism Awareness Day to coincide with Mayor Ward’s visit, where the students all wore blue, and the mayor donned a blue suit for the occasion.
Ms McMahon added: “We all went blue in recognition of autism awareness.
“It was to show solidarity and unity with the kids that are in the school’s ASD class.”
Mayor Ward said: “I wore the blue suit in solidarity with the school. All of the students in the school, whether they’re on the autism spectrum or not, play together and it’s really heart-warming to see.”
The parents also spoke to Mayor Ward about their campaign to be awarded patronage for a planned secondary school in the area.
The Department of Education has committed to developing a 1,000-student, second-level school for pupils in Citywest and Saggart in 2020, with the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board (DDLETB) and Educate Together both launching separate campaigns in a bid to be awarded patronage of the school.
