Junior+School+Council



//T his link will take you to the Northern Metropolitan Region JSC Congress blog: // http://studentconventions.wordpress.com/junior-school-congress/northern-region-jsc-congress/ On Friday, September 17th, seven students from Moreland Primary School, Nadira, Jasmine, Magma, Arshiya, Georgy, Jacob and I, had the honour to represent the school at the Northern Region, 2011 **J**unior **S**chool **C**ouncil Congress. (JSC). There were 16 schools represented and over 100 students.

The purpose of the JSC congress was for schools to discuss what they want to do to help the Environment. At first we split up into groups so that we could meet children from different schools and hear their ideas. We put our ideas on pieces of paper. These ideas are called motions. These motions were put forth to the council. For example, my motion was that all schools should have enough funding to purchase environmental friendly products like recycled toilet paper and fair-trade products like sport equipment and coffee.

After coming up with many motions as individuals we inserted them into a box. Only some motions would be debated and voted on at the congress but all of them will be included in a book which will be published and given to the Education Department.

After that, it was time for play lunch and on the menu were various flavours of cup cakes with some fruit juice. Then we went back into our groups. We had a choice of activity groups- public speaking, marketing an idea, planning an event or running a meeting. I chose to learn more about public speaking. I learnt that a good speaker:
 * Shows great eye contact
 * Has an interesting topic to talk about
 * Doesn’t talk tooooooooooooooooo long and get the audience sleepy!
 * Adds some enthusiasm and shows that they’re enjoying what they’re doing
 * Moves around a bit, don’t stand stiff in one position
 * Uses positive body language
 * Doesn’t speak too fast or slow
 * Talks to the audience and gets to know them.
 * Speaks confidently
 * Knows what they’re talking about - is prepared

It was lunchtime and on the menu were healthy and tasty sandwiches, yogurt and a piece of fruit. After lunch it was time for the congress, so we sat in our seats ready too begin. We sat in a U shape like a real Parliament and the meeting was run like the Government when it passes laws. Once a motion was presented we had a debate on why we should or shouldn’t accept this motion. Then we all voted. Some motions that were passed included things that Moreland Primary School already does. It was agreed that all schools should;
 * have gardens to encourage children to eat healthy food,
 * learn about protecting animals and their habitats,
 * reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink so that we don’t waste the world’s resources like paper, energy and water
 * have one day a year that is rubbish free to keep schools cleaner and encourage wrapper free lunches ( MPS do this every day, not just one day)
 * recycle old phones and send them to the Zoo to help gorillas and recycle the batteries which have coltan in them.
 * have a walking school bus to reduce car pollution and keep children healthy
 * have automatic electric sensors to turn off lights when people are out of the room and turn off the water taps once they are not being used

Then everyone at the congress received certificates for participating. I had a great time and learnt a lot about leadership. By Sarah Hussein with help from the other JSC Congress participants.

//These are helpful links: //

__ http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/programs/multicultural/default.htm __

__ http://globaleducationresources.wikispaces.com/ __

Weblinks We have posted some information regarding the Congress on our Student Forums Blog __ http://studentconventions.wordpress.com/junior-school-congress/northern-region-jsc-congress/ __ It would great if teachers and students added to the Blog – ideas, impressions etc.
 * Research about the value of CCE