Voice network activities for pupil groups - Scotland
Voice network groups' activities to help you get going, learn more and develop your ideas to challenge poverty in your schools.
Raising awareness
Start with raising awareness activities to help your group to start conversations and consider what impact poverty and costs can have on school life.
1. Introduction to the Voice network: about child poverty in Scotland, why we need to talk about it and how Cost of the School Day helps.
2. Where are we now?: An active (standing up and moving around) exercise to get people thinking about the current cost of the school day.
3. Thinking about costs at your school: discuss how school costs can affect young people and their families.
4. Design a group logo: a creative activity to describe the purpose of your group and design a logo to represent it.
5. Ready to learn? Listen to what children said in our film about the Big Question, where children told us what they thinking about costs at school.
Asking everyone about costs
How to make sure you ask everyone about costs and think about what action you're going to take.
1. Write a school costs survey: find out what other people at school think about costs and which ones might be a problem.
2. Create a focus group: set up a focus group to ask people about their views and opinions about school costs.
3. Set up a suggestion box: make a suggestion box to gather people's views anonymously.
4. Costs voting cards: use voting cards to find out people's views about costs at school.
5. Talking to parents: asking parents and carers about school costs.
6. Talking to your headteacher: interview your head teachers about costs and help at school and create a Cost of the School Day pledge.
Taking action
All about how you might go about taking action.
1. Poster campaigns: A creative activity to promote the support that's available in your school community.
2. Getting your message out there using social media: set up a group social media account to promote your work.
3. Creating your own costs calendar: make a calendar of the events that happen at your school and whether they cost money.
4. Take what you need to learn: make sure that young people have what they need to learn.
5. Reviewing uniform policies: get involved in reviewing your school's uniform policy.
6. Fundraising and fun events: plan events so that everyone can take part.
7. What would your group ask politicians and the people in charge of education? Politicians and the people in charge make the big decisions about how schools run. What would you ask them?