Student Leadership
At CNCS, we firmly believe in the power of the student voice. We provide students with a number of different Leadership opportunities whilst they are at school, ranging from Head Boy and Head Girl to Student Council Representatives and tutor representatives. We believe that it is imperative to give students a voice and to take their opinions and views on board, looking to change and improve things where we can.
Aims of student leadership
- Student centred – we want students to feel that they can contribute towards the school and make real change that matters to them
- Student leadership will be purposeful provide students with the key skills for life outside of school
- Drive positive change and feel that they have a voice
- Develop active citizens who make a positive contribution to society (e.g. fundraising, eco initiatives, school of sanctuary, catholic life)
- To prepare them for their journey after CNCS and develop their key skills
- Instil the importance of British Values
Student leadership model
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Wider student leaders: All students across the school who have the opportunity to contribute (e.g. tutor representatives, anti bullying ambassadors, cultural diversity, reading mentors). This also includes our year 11 prefects Student council: Each tutor group has two student council reps who meet with the junior and senior student leaders each half term. They gain feedback from their tutor groups prior to share at the meetings. Junior student leaders: Two students from each year group who represent their year group in surgery sessions with key stakeholders and student council meetings. Senior student leaders: The post 16 student leadership team, comprising of the Head Boy and Girl, Deputies, Senior prefect and senior student leadership team. They oversee the student leadership model Student leadership model
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The student leadership model will enable a two way communication system between the students and school through regular meetings, including half termly surgeries and half termly student council meetings.
Senior student leadership team: Head Boy and Head Girl
In Year 12 have students have the opportunity to apply for the role of Head Boy and Head Girl. This is the pinnacle of student leadership and the role comes with a detailed job description which both challenges and develops the leadership skills of those students selected. The schools current Senior Student Leadership for 2025-26 are:
Students in Year 13 also have the opportunity to apply to be part of our wider senior student leadership team, each supporting on a key aspect of school life. These successful students will be announced soon.
School Prefects
The Prefect System is highly respected by our students. They are easily identified by the school as they are distinguished by their gold ties. Our Prefects are positive role models and help to promote the ethos of the school by supporting both staff and students in everyday tasks, events and initiatives. Our students are eligible to apply for these positions at the end of year 10, if they meet the criteria relating to attendance, punctuality and behaviour, and have the qualities needed to be successful in the role.
In July 2025, 35 students successfully completed the process and were selected as our 2025/26 prefects.
Student leadership opportunities
We understand the importance of student leadership at Cardinal Newman Catholic School. It helps to develop students' resilience, leadership, confidence and many more skills. Students have the opportunity to be involved in the following leadership opportunities.
Students in Year 7-11 have the opportunity to apply to become part of our student leadership team. Roles that they can apply for are:
- Form monitor (16 per tutor group)
- Student council representative (2 per tutor group)
- Junior student leaders – Head Boy and Girl (2 per year group)
- Subject ambassadors.
The junior student leaders (Head Boy and Girl) are the main student leader in each year group, working alongside their head of year to shape and make change in their year group. Our junior student leaders for 2025-26 are:
Our year 7 students will be selected in September 2025, when they join the school.
Student Council
The Student Council is an integral part of our school community, as developing the student voice is paramount to promoting change. The purpose of the student council is to communicate their ideas and suggestions about a wide variety of issues. Pupils are encouraged to develop skills to help them communicate, think about important issues, express and justify opinions and contribute to discussions and debates. Minutes of the meetings are taken and shared with staff and students. They can also be viewed on our school website. A list of actions is drawn up and then students are informed of any decisions made via tutor discussions, assemblies and the weekly review.
As our Student Council is all about developing the student voice, students take part in an Election Campaign to democratically vote on their tutor’s representative. Students are encouraged to write speeches or make promotional videos and deliver their speeches to their tutors. Each individual student votes for who they would like to elect as their representative.
Student Council representatives meet formally once a half term and discuss issues raised from their tutor groups, with the Headteacher and chair of governors. All information is fed back to tutor groups and actions are discussed. Not only do the representatives have formal meetings, with the Headteacher and Chair of Governors, but they lead on pastoral sessions across each half term. This is to encourage students to speak up and raise awareness of issues within school and make a real change to their time at Cardinal Newman. The minutes of each meeting can be found at the bottom of this page.
The representatives for 2025/26 will be announced soon.
Eco Champions
The Eco-Committee is run and lead by like-minded students from each year group who take the lead in introducing, running and developing the Eco-Schools programme. We hold the Eco schools green flag. This award embarks the school on a meaningful path towards improving the environment in both the school and the local community while at the same time having a life-long positive impact on the lives of young people and their families. The Eco-Schools Green Flag is an internationally recognised award for excellence in environmental action and learning and the Eco-Committee have worked extremely hard within the school to ensure Cardinal Newman achieves the award and continues to contribute towards eco initiatives.
Years 7 and 8 are invited to help keep our school environment clean and tidy as Eco Champions. This role involves litter picking sessions and promoting environmentally friendly techniques to their peers! Our Eco Champions are excellent role models for their peers and wear their badges with pride.
Further student leadership opportunities at Cardinal Newman School:
- Student librarians
- Anti bullying representatives
- Eco champions
- Cultural diversity representatives
- Mental health champions
- Reading mentors (Year 9)
- Key stage 3 mentors (Year 12)