Civic roles for pupils (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Civic roles for pupils

The mayor of Swindon, Ray Fisher, with the mayor and mayoress of Pinehurst Junior School, Jack Gilder and Kerryanne McGovern Ref: 99643-14PINEHURST Junior School has held an official inauguration ceremony to welcome their new mayor and mayoress. The school has created a bustling suburb, Pinesbury, which, like any other town, has a town council.

And Swindon's mayor, Ray Fisher, was on hand to help Jack Gilder and Kerryanne McGovern, both 10, fit into their new roles.

Pinesbury has been brought to life by transforming the school into streets. Corridors and classrooms have been given names like Oak Grove and Hawthorne Alley.

There are plans for a newspaper, The Pinesbury Gazette, and a community radio station, which will broadcast school news and plays written by pupils.

There is even a school shop and museum.

And a town council governs everything in Pinesbury headed by its elected mayor and mayoress.

As town crier Fred Ferris rang his bell to announce the entrance of Coun Fisher there were gasps of excitement from the children.

Kerryanne said: "I am pleased to be the mayoress and I hope to make the school a better place,

"I want to make the playground a fun place and I think the boys should have a separate football pitch.

"I also decided to paint the girls' toilets lilac."

She added: "I want to do more things to make the school better for everyone and maybe get more things in the playground for everyone."

Jack said: "I am proud to be the mayor of Pinesbury. I am going to make learning fun in class time and I want to make the playground more fun."

Dressed in velvet robes the new mayor and mayoress gave out council medals to each of the 18 Pinesbury councillors before embarking on a tour of the school with Coun Fisher.

"It's great to see the children interested in local government," said Coun Fisher.

"I just hope they're not after my job just yet."

The project is a first for Swindon schools but headteacher Steve Hobbs hopes others will follow suit.

He said the project forms part of the alternative curriculum, which is designed to instil a sense of community in pupils.

"I think it is important to make learning fun," he said.

Lyndsay Scanlan