Our School Council (2014-15) have been thinking about what it’s like to grow up in Leeds. Their comments might feature in an article in the Yorkshire Evening Press around the Child-Friendly Leeds campaign. In the meantime, here’s a sneak preview of what’s been said…
“First, let’s talk about me: Hi, my name is Linda. I am 8 years old and I am in Year 4 in an outstanding primary school in Leeds called Moortown Primary. I was born in the LGI where I first saw my Mum and Dad.
Now let’s talk about my family. I have two brothers, one at Allerton High School and the other one in my school. I have got awesome parents. My Mum is called Patricia and my Dad is called Habib. My Mum is French and my Dad is Algerian.
I am going to tell you the story of how I grew up in Leeds. I grew up with a lovely family, great friends and epic teachers. Also, the great place I grew up in was surrounded by great caring people. Furthermore, I believe that Leeds is an awesome city to be in and to have fun in.
Now let’s talk about the environment. I really enjoy all the activities in Leeds for the kids, such as libraries, cinemas, outdoor and indoor fun, parks and museums, restaurants and many more. I really enjoy the fact that children and young people can travel around the city and make safe journeys. As well as that, Leeds is a multicultural city therefore, I have been able to fit in well to the lovely community. With my French and Algerian origin and my Muslim background, I feel at home in Leeds.
The best thing about growing up in Leeds is having everyone by your side and feeling safe and secure.”
Linda, Year 4
Below is a wish-list of five things to change about Leeds to make it more child-friendly, according to our School Council:
- Racism: One thing we would like to change is racism because everyone is equal and they deserve their own rights!
- Bullying: We would like to make sure help is available to anyone who suffers the effects of bullying. Without help, people may get scared when people around them physically or emotionally bully them.
- Safety on-line: More awareness for children of the dangers they may face on-line to make using the internet safer.
- Litter: Have you ever been to the park where there is loads of dog poo? Awful, isn’t it! We want a cleaner Leeds for us to play safely.
- Graffiti: Although some graffiti can be artistic, we feel there is too much graffiti which makes Leeds look messy.
What would our school councillors change about Leeds?
“I would want to help the poor people become richer, and I would want to see more police on the streets because people throw rubbish on the floor. Sometimes I see dog poo on the floor and it makes me sad. I think that dogs should have a playground.”
Stanley, Year 2
“If I was chosen to be a leader for the day, I would like people who do jobs such as firemen, nurses and doctors to be paid more money. Also, I would want to see more police out and about on the streets because there is a lot of crime.”
Dominic, Year 3
“If I was boss for one day, I would give food for all the poor children so that no one is starving and make sure that poor families don’t have to pay any money for things they can’t afford. I would make lots of houses so poor people can live there and get their food delivered free.”
Naran, Year 3
…And what do our councillors think of Moortown Primary?
“Over the last year, quite a lot has happened in our school. Firstly, we had our old ICT suite transformed into a fabulous kitchen / computer room. Pupils were involved in deciding what equipment to have through our School Council and a lot of thought and design went into this project. Money was spent on thirty brand new laptops and a charging trolley. We named our new room ‘The Space’. It is brilliant for cookery lessons because we didn’t have a proper room to work in before, and it is great for IT lessons, too. Now we can enjoy far more fun cookery sessions in a safe environment. It has been a great addition to our school.
Also, we had an Enterprise week where we had to think of a business idea and promote it. Here are some of the ideas we came up with: face painting, Lego models, house robots, Fruity Tooty drinks. People from a local business came into school to listen to our ideas (almost like ‘Dragon’s Den’) and voted on the best one. This was great because we had to work out costs and who to sell our product to.”
Ayesha, Year 6