Key(-words) to success – School life

Class representatives 

  • They are elected at the start of the school year (année scolaire)
  • They represent the views (=ils sont les porte-paroles) of all pupils & represent them in school affairs
  • Their election shouldn’t be seen as a popularity contest (= un concours de popularité)
  • They sometimes have to write down their views on paper before the election or address the class in an election hustings (=campagne électorale. Hustings s’écrit avec un -s au singulier et au pluriel)
  • They are responsible for carrying out (=responsable de la mise en oeuvre) the ideas that have been agreed on
  • They must listen to their peers’ concerns to make improvements (= apporter des améliorations)
  • They shouldn’t be seen as unwelcome guests at the table of power (= des hôtes indésirables à la table du pouvoir)
  • They can set up (=monter, établir) subcommittees working on specific tasks
  • They can’t enact (=prendre une décision légale) anything on their own
  • They sometimes have meetings on curriculum time (= sur le temps scolaire)
  • They should get formal training (=une formation spécifique)
  • The power given to class reps shouldn’t be mere lip-service (du blabla, sans résultats)

School councils 

  • They are laboratories of democracy
  • Class reps can make a positive contribution (=participer de manière constructive) to school life
  • The students’ views are taken into account / into consideration (=pris en compte, en considération)
  • They are meant to give students a way to express themselves (=s’exprimer)
  • Students have a say in (=avoir son mot à dire) the way their school is run (= est dirigé(e) )
  • Class councils should be monitored by an adult who listens, takes minutes (écrit le compte-rendu) and reports back to avoid pie-fights over (=des prises de bec à propos) trivia or slagging off teachers (=déblatérer sur les profs) (slang : bitching about teachers)
  • Top-down decision-making (=des prises de décision unilatérales) should be avoided