Student Voice at Gorey Community School

At Gorey Community School we value and respect the voice of our student body, and we have an established structure to ensure that the opinions of our students play an integral role in the running of our school.

Our Student Council begins with class rep nominations and elections; each class group in the school establishes a class rep. We feel that ensuring that each class has a class rep makes it easier for us to access the voices of our large and diverse student population.

Those interested in running for student council are then invited to identify themselves to our student council liaison teacher. These students run for election; they create posters, speak to their peers, write slogans and manifestos and spend two weeks trying to garner votes from the other students in their year group. Voting takes place anonymously and online and we elect representatives from each year group.

The Student Council meet every Friday morning for forty minutes. A full agenda is compiled in the days leading up to the meeting, and items can be added by any member of the council. Issues discussed vary broadly and our meetings usually involve considering many different aspects of school life.

Student Council provides a great opportunity for our students to practise their leadership and communication skills. They are given the chance to work with students from different year groups and to meet with other important school stakeholders, including the Board of Management and the Parent’s Association.

Those that wish to contact the student council can do so by speaking to any student council representatives or by emailing studentcouncil@goreycs.ie.

While our work is varied and multi-faceted, the following are some initiatives that we are particularly proud of:

• We periodically meet with Mr Finn and with the Board of Management. In the past we have consulted with them on issues including uniform, hairstyles, intercoms, lunchtime arrangements, the school canteen, bathrooms and online learning.
• We meet with the Parents' Association, and we have worked alongside them on fundriaisng events, including Daffodil Day.
• We visited Gorey Youth Needs Group, and worked alongside them to promote the service in our school.
• We liaise with Gorey Community Development Group and we played an integral role in their asset mapping project.
• We have organised a number of fundraising and charity initiatives including Christmas Jumper Day, the St Vincent de Paul Food Appeal, Daffodil Day, and a 5-aside soccer tournament for 1st, 2nd and 3rd years. In the past we have raised money and donations for many important organisations including the Irish Cancer Society, the RNLI, LauraLynn, SVDP and the NWSPCA.
• Every year we organise a conference with our local primary schools where we invite representatives from the primary schools in the area to attend our school for a morning of conversation, brainstorming and question and answer sessions. The conference is also attended by several local representatives, who hear feedback from the young people present on the pros and cons of our area.
• Student Council members attended ISSU meetings in Wexford County Council's District Chamber and met pupils from both Creagh College and Gorey ETSS in Gorey District Chamber to work on issues important to young people living in Gorey.
• We travelled to Port Laoise to meet with the NCCA and the ACCS to discuss their view on the future of education in Ireland.
• We have met with local politicians including Senator Malcolm Byrne, Councillor Andrew Bolger, and Councillor Donal Kenny, and hosted visits to our school from Minister for Education, Norma Foley, TD Verona Murphy, the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland and the Ukranian Ambassador to Ireland.

Student Council Members: 2023-24

1st Year

2nd Year

3rd Year

5th Year

6th Year

Student Council