Student Voice and Agency

Ivanhoe East Primary School recognises the importance of empowering students and the contribution that student voice, agency and leadership make to improve student learning outcomes, health and wellbeing. At Ivanhoe East Primary School, we are committed to providing our students with a learning environment that inspires them to be their best. An important aspect of school life at Ivanhoe East Primary School is developing student voice and agency, enabling our students to be active contributors in their learning and decision making in our school community.

Student voice is not simply about giving students the opportunity to communicate ideas and opinions; it is about students having the power to influence change. Authentic student voice provides opportunities for students to collaborate and make decisions with adults around what and how they learn and how their learning is assessed. This is known to lead to improved educational outcomes.

Student agency refers to the level of autonomy and power that a student experiences in the learning environment. Student voice and agency are intrinsically linked. Agency gives students the power to direct and take responsibility for their learning, creating independent and self-regulating learners.

Students will be encouraged to take responsibility for their learning, to make purposeful contributions to their learning environment and to tackle issues arising in the world around them. There is strong evidence that students become more engaged in learning when they have opportunities to:

• Exercise agency in their learning
• Contribute to the communities in which they learn
• Improve the learning program for themselves and their peers

Student voice builds resilience, adaptability, perseverance. It increases motivation and creates purpose, pride and trust in their learning environment.

In 2019, we were annouced as the Vic SRC Student Voice Primary School of the Year and you can find out more by reading the IEPS Case Study. We respect our students and seek their feedback, opinions and insight to influence whole-school improvement. Please watch this video produced by the Department of Education and Training which showcases our commitment to Student Voice and Agency.

Principal Advisory Group

The Principal Advisory Group is a group of students comprising of the Year 6 Captains and one person from each class from Years 4 -6. The purpose of the group is to provide students with the opportunity to be actively involved in meaningful decision making in the school through:

• Representing their classmates and their own views.
• Giving feedback about their experiences at school and sharing their ideas for improvement, including what and how they learn and their social and emotional wellbeing.
• Open discussions focused on the continued success of IEPS.

Students will meet 2-3 times each term with the principal and the teacher mentors to explore different topics and develop solutions that can be implemented throughout the school.