Pupil Leadership
‘Older pupils strive to be strong role models for younger pupils. For instance, they enthusiastically take up roles such as ‘reading leaders’ to support other pupils with their reading.’
Ofsted 2024
At Corpus Christi, we seek to equip our pupils with all of the skills they need to be successful citizens in modern Britain. As part of that aim, we seek to give each of them multiple opportunities to develop their leadership skills. You can learn about each of these by selecting the various sections below.
Our senior team of Head Boy, Head Girls and their Deputies are selected every year through a rigorous selection process. This involves writing a letter of application, giving a presentation to staff and governors and a formal interview. Pupils who are unsuccessful in being appointed to one of the Head or Deputy roles will be considered for the role of Senior Prefect. The senior team represents at events throughout the year and supports staff in a variety of ways, as well as supporting their House.
In addition to our senior team, each House also appoints House Captains and Sports Captains in Year 10 and 11. These assist the Head of House with Inter-House Competitions, Fundraising, the organisation of House Prayer, and any other activities which their duties require. The structure of these roles can be seen below:
At least once every term, House Mentoring takes place in Il Cenacolo during form time. Pupils are paired according to their House and Form, so for example pupils in 7C are paired with those in 10C. They ask each other questions about what is going well, any issues they are having, homework completion, behaviour and extra-curricular participation. Whilst this process is initially led by the mentor, over time this becomes very much a two-way process. These are the same age groups who spend breaktime and lunchtime together, so this helps to bring them together whilst also ensuring the younger pupils have a familiar, older face who can help and support them. This process continues until pupils are halfway through Year 8 and Year 11 respectively, and the mentoring sheets are shared with form tutors so that any issues can be identified and addressed. The whole process helps to bring us even closer ‘together in one body’.
A number of subject areas ask pupils to lead in a variety of ways. For example, this may be helping younger pupils with revision or areas they are finding difficult in their study (eg: RE REPs), or by running extra-curricular clubs to motivate and enthuse younger pupils (eg: drama, dance). A number of subject areas such as geography and modern foreign languages also invite recent leavers back into school to help pupils prepare for their GCSE examinations.
For a number of years, older pupils in Year 9 have taken the time to mentor, help and support younger pupils who do not find reading particularly easy. This takes place during registration at least once a week and is organised by the Learning Support department.
Our Reading Leaders programme is designed to train young people from Year 9 to help pupils at least two years younger than themselves become confident and competent readers. At the same time reading leaders develop skills and qualities which enhance their CVs in readiness for future job applications or entry into further and higher education. All Reading Leaders receive a letter of reference on completion of the programme which can be used as part of the Duke of Edinburgh voluntary placement.
On their recent visit, Ofsted observed a Reading Leaders session and spoke to pupils involved. Their feedback was extremely positive.
The Faith in Action Award, which is organised by the Catholic Youth Ministry Federation (CYMFED), encourages young people through recognising, rewarding and celebrating their active faith lived out through service and reflection. The Award helps them connect their life and faith in a tangible manner. Through the Award, young people can take up an active role in the Church through identifying and focusing on what is really important, and using their gifts and talents to contribute positively to the community.
In journeying through the Award, young people should experience a deepening of their relationship with God and find themselves exploring that relationship. It is hoped that through their relationship and action, others will see God’s love through them.
All Year 7 pupils undertake the entry level of the award, known as the ‘PIN’ award, as part of their RE lessons. In school, pupils can subsequently build on this by completing the Bronze award, which is centred on service. Pupils who choose to complete the Bronze award must achieve credits inside and outside of school, through serving their communities in some way. Within school, Faith in Action Bronze participants have assisted with organising Advent and Lent fundraising events, contributed to the prayer life of the school through writing and reading prayers; writing and recording reflections; altar serving, singing and proclaiming The Word in celebrations of Mass; and planning and delivering inputs in Advent and Lent services. Outside of school, pupils have served the local community in a variety of ways, including involvement in their home parishes, gardening at the Carmelite Monastery, visiting care homes and litter picking. The Faith in Action scheme is facilitated by our Chaplaincy team as part of our extra-curricular provision.
Outside of school, Corpus Christi pupils have achieved the Silver and Gold Faith in Action awards, focused on leadership and innovation, as a part of Metanoia Project’s Young Leaders’ programme. Through this, 16-18 year olds develop and deliver sessions to younger children at youth groups and on retreats; serve at Metanoia Project’s Homeless Drop In; support adult ministries and much more.
The activities which pupils undertake as part of this award can also count towards the service and leadership elements of the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Below you can see photographs from when our first group of Faith in Action Award pupils were presented with their awards by Bishop Paul Swarbrick in September 2023.
Every year, DofE inspires hundreds of thousands of young people, from all walks of life, to explore who they are, grow in confidence and develop the skills they need to successfully navigate life. DofE is open to any young person aged 14-24. Participants build their own programme, choosing activities and a cause to volunteer for. There are four main sections of a DofE programme: volunteering, physical, skills, and the expedition.
Here at Corpus Christi, we offer pupils in Year 9 the opportunity to complete the bronze award. Due to our extensive range of extra-curricular clubs, pupils have a number of activity options to choose from for the physical and skills sections of the award. Volunteering can also be completed on-site for roles such as reading leader and prefect, which can also count towards the volunteering elements of the Faith in Action award.
Pupils attend a fortnightly training session in order to prepare for the expedition, which takes place in June. These sessions enable pupils to become proficient in skills such as navigation, OS map reading, first aid and all aspects of camp craft. These sessions, combined with two full training days, ensure our pupils are fully prepared to journey through the countryside independently.
For further information regarding pupil leadership and the activities which take place please contact:
Mr Warham, email: nwar@ccc.lancs.sch.uk or telephone school reception: (01772) 716912.
