
Student Voice

Student Voice: Experiences of being a young person at The Purbeck School.
Just before the Christmas break, 23 of our 6th form students, members of the Senior Leadership Team and House Leaders, led student focus groups with over 120 lower school students. The purpose of the student focus group was to develop our understanding of ‘What is it like to be an individual in our school’ Please see below a summary of the overall findings and an action plan at the bottom of the document.
Experiences of being a young person at The Purbeck School.
What are your experiences of being in this school.
- Lots of opportunities to play sports. Opportunities to make lots of friends. Quite daunting at first but have grown to like it. Very positive. Enjoy access to the sports at break time. Access to the sport centre is great. Treated fairly by teachers. Friendly and welcoming school. Proud to come to this school
What do you think the school does well at? If you were talking to a friend, what would you say are the strengths of this school?
- Teachers are nice. A lot of respect between student and teachers. PE department and opportunities in sport. NEST is supportive. Teaching is engaging and lessons enjoyable- love the clubs e.g. STEM and Sculpture. Kindness, aspiration and perseverance. Student ambassadors. Music facilities. Nice staff. Good library. Teachers are experts in their fields. Good after school clubs.
What do you think it means to be a Purbeck School student?
- Be nice to people and they will be nice to you. The school is built on Respect for each other. Good community. Be kind. To try hard. “Proud to be at the school”
How do you think the different genders are treated in this school by staff?
- There wasn’t any disparity reported on how the genders are treated by staff
How much inappropriate language do you hear: how do staff respond?
- None in lessons but in social time it is sometimes used between friends. In the corridors. Not said in front of staff but when it is, it is challenged. Used but only as slang language. It is just banter. It if is used in a unkind way, we report it.
How far has the PD programme helped you deal with / understand… do you feel educated about sexualised language, identity (protected characteristics)
- Already know the content taught but provides opportunity to discuss it further. Yr 7 found it useful to explore topics in more depth. PD lessons are very helpful. Useful for outside of school. Good to raise awareness of topics.
Where do you feel safe in this school?
- Most places. With tutors.
Are there any areas you feel unsafe (include unstructured times)
- Some corridors are crowded. Toilets can be unwelcoming. Dislike mix sex toilets. Girls don’t like sharing toilets with the boys.
If there is anything you could change in this school, that you think would make a difference to everyone, what would it be?
- Canteen prices. Shorter break and lunch. Louder bells for outside – staff to have whistles? Toilet doors. Good students to be rewarded more. More rewards. Year areas are too small. More positive feedback, house points, emails home.
Who are role models to you in this school?
- Older students
Do you feel listened to? Who listens to you? In what ways do you feel listened to?
- Staff and students will listen. We could have more student voice. Nest, tutor (yr 7). Nest are supportive. Tutors. Friends. Yes we feel listened to.
Is it OK to be different in this school?
- Yes absolutely everyone is different and no one is singled out for being different.
- Yes
- A lot of people are respectful
Points to review:
- Discussion with Heads of Departments re entrance and exits to classrooms to avoid crowding of corridors.
- Review of toilet provision and whole school vote on whether to introduce gendered toilets
- Continue to use student voice in this new format to ensure wider coverage of students are involved.