Democracy in action

At BNIS, the curriculum is underpinned by a set of values that are the 'Braeburn Circles'. Each week at BNIS is started with a 'Thought for the Week' which supports the whole school to learn about, reflect upon and put into action the values. This week, the children learned about Democracy - one of the values of Braeburn's 'Responsible Citizens', a national value of Kenya and is also a fundamental British value.

The children have a range of opportunites at the start of each year to make some democratic decisions; first up was selection of their House Captains. Children from Year 8 who wished to be considered for the captaincy role of their house delivered prepared speeches to the rest of their team before the children voted for their representative. It was great to see the Year 8s put themselves forward and speak with confidence. As with any election, there are disappointed candidates which is always hard to see; however, the effort of putting themselves forward and preparing their speeches has not gone unnoticed and is an achievement that they should be proud of.

There was stiff competition for Duma House Captain as there were five candidates but congratulations go to Alana who has been democratically voted to represent them as Captain for this year. Both Chui and Simba had two candidates each to choose from - the winning votes went to Ava for Chui and Henry for Simba - well done to both of them!

Next week, children will put forward suggestions for the upcoming Movie Night and then vote on the shortlist during the following week to select the family film that will be shown on Friday 27th September. There will also be children from across the school putting themselves up for 2024-25 School Council Representation; they will each 'pitch' to their year group and then votes will be cast to select this year's student leadership group who will help the staff leadership to develop and improve the school.

There will be other opportunities during the year for children to learn about how to exercise democracy, a vital tool that helps overcome differences of opinion and ensures that there is freedom to speak and share preferences, and a Braeburn Schools value.