Eighty Rights Respecting Ambassadors and School Councillors from eight E1 schools came together for Pupil Parliament 2024, an inspiring event hosted by Norton Rose Fulbright and Osmani Primary School on 29th November 2024. Held in Norton Rose Fulbright’s stunning office near Tower Bridge, the day was filled with learning, collaboration and youth-led action.
A panel of five expert speakers engaged pupils in a lively Q&A session, exploring three key themes: Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour, Health and Wellbeing, and Climate Change. Our incredible panellists included:
Following the Q&A, pupils worked in mixed-school groups to brainstorm and develop action plans, which they then implement during Action Weeks in the spring and summer terms.
A huge thank you to Norton Rose Fulbright for providing a brilliant space, a delicious lunch, and invaluable support in making this event such a success.
Norton Rose Fulbright
Developing Action Plans
Panellists
At Osmani, we’ve been taking real steps to turn ideas into action through our themed Pupil Parliament Action Weeks:
We focused on recycling as a practical way to protect our planet. Tower Hamlets Council’s Recycling Engagement Team delivered workshops – and even brought along a talking, moving recycling robot! We also held a whole-school Art Week, where pupils created amazing pieces using only recyclable materials.
With support from our in-house therapy service, Up, we ran a Mental Health Week full of thoughtful activities to help children recognise and manage difficult feelings. We also took part in the Big Walk and Wheel by Sustrans, encouraging pupils to walk or cycle to school and we organised Bikeability sessions for our Y6 pupils, teaching them to cycle safely on the roads.
Two local police officers visited to talk to our Upper Key Stage 2 pupils about drug misuse and staying safe in the community. We also welcomed the Police Mounted Unit, who spoke about their work and brought their horses along – a real highlight for the children!
At Stewart Headlam, one of the Post Pupils' Parliament action plan priorities was to improve air quality in our school. Our School Councillors worked with the Bike It company to learn more about the environment. This half term, the councillors have been learning all about air pollution.
On Friday, 27th April, we visited the woods in Weaver's Field to learn about lichen. By identifying different types of lichen, we can now tell how much pollution there is in the air. We found lots of lichen. Some types showed us that there was more pollution in the air, especially near roads. When we went to a different part of the park, further away from the roads, we discovered different types of lichen that indicated the air was cleaner.
Our next step is to use what we have learned about air pollution to identify changes we can make to improve air quality around the school. At the end of the project, the councillors shared their learning with the whole school. Our councillors also helped the Lead Councillor to order an air filter for every classroom. These air filters are now being used in classrooms to help reduce air pollution indoors.
We entered the Mini London Marathon this year for the first time.
We ran a poster competition during our environment week.
Hague Primary SchoolThis year we have had a big focus on pupil wellbeing.
Our School Councillors took the lead developing the Playground Well Being Box.
After attending Pupil Parliament, the School Council really liked the idea of having a Well Being Box full of resources that would be calm, quiet and relaxing activities to be used in the playground at playtime.
They created a wish list for the box, they asked if money raised in school through an enterprise project could be used for buying resources and now oversee its use every day. It has become a successful part of playtimes, proving very popular with all classes enjoying the lovely games and toys.
Children's Mental Health Week
The school also marked Children's Mental Health Week with a poster competition.
All this work culminated in Hague School being awarded the Gold Health Schools Award. A group of school councillors attended an event at Tower Hamlets Town Hall to collect the award.
