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HACL Student Council has hit the 2026 ground running, ending the first week of term with a dynamic meeting to discuss their priorities for positive change in our school community and beyond.

Our Vice Principal, Ms Verber and Assistant Principal, Mr Stagg were in attendance as was our Executive Principal, Mr Astin, but the student representatives were reminded from the start, that what they think and have to say was the order of the day!

Mr Astin spoke to them about how, over his career, he has made changes in other schools and that he did this by harnessing student voice. He explained and reiterated the importance of how well students experience school life and how they should feel empowered to have their say. The students listened intently to his inspirational speech and when Mr Astin opened the floor to questions, it was evident how much they had taken in and how much respect they had for his experience and this empowering standpoint. Before Mr Astin left the meeting, he told the students how impressed he was with their intelligent and thoughtful questions, and he shared with them how confident he was in their abilities, and Mr Stagg’s stewardship of the student council.

Inspired by their Principal’s encouragement, students were quick to get stuck into the first task Mr Stagg had set for them, to list three main areas of school life that the students believed warranted attention for improvement. The second task was considering the signposting around the building for optimum movement and clarity and ideas for HACL charity fund-raising targets. Each table of seven house representatives was alive with debate and accordance; after twenty-five minutes their A3 pages were full of notes, ideas and requests for both the Senior Leadership Team and the student-body to consider by way of a questionnaire.

We very much look forward to the results of the questionnaire and seeing the progress made by the HACL School Council. As they work together, we will see them strengthening their teamwork, developing their listening skills and ideas, addressing concerns, making improvements to benefit students at HACL and demonstrating our care and empathy for the wider community.