IT was all change at Paulet High School, when the pupils had the chance to take over the top jobs in the school for one whole day.
The head teacher, deputy head and other members of staff at the Stapenhill school were cast aside for the day on Friday during take over day.
A total of 120 pupils got involved with the annual event, which is now in its fourth year, taking on jobs in the kitchen, in the classroom, and even trying their hands at being caretakers for the day.
Deputy head teacher Ian McArthur said: “It was a tremendous day, and the kids really enjoyed it.
“This year more than ever, they just wanted to understand more about how the school works.
“We had 120 students out of uniform all walking around in business suits for the day. It was excellent.”
The take over day is part of a national scheme organised by the government-appointed Children’s Commissioner.
It is aimed at getting children more engaged with the school and the way it works.
At Paulet, the day started out with the youngsters heading into the staff briefing, before they started taking lessons and ‘running the school’. Others were given real issues which the school has to deal with, which they had to discuss with their team and try to solve. They were accompanied by the staff they were displacing throughout the day.
More than 100 people applied to take on the senior roles for the day, and the head boy and girl chose the people who would do the jobs for the day.
Mr McArthur said: “It’s a great experience. We were seeing some beautifully planned lessons by the students, which they were giving to their own colleagues. I think they all responded to it very well. I’m looking forward to next year.”
He said Paulet took part in the event to try to give children more of a voice in the way the school is run, as well as providing a more positive view of young people.
“We get sick to the back teeth of the constant bad press of how terrible kids are, but that’s maybe half of one per cent of all children.
“This is giving them a more positive way to be seen, because they’re great.”
