Student Leadership
Being an Isleworthian means embracing opportunities to develop leadership qualities; we call this our ‘learners as leaders’ philosophy. Students take personal responsibility for their own learning, inside and outside the classroom. Academic research is plentiful regarding the benefit of student leadership, including:
- Increased academic achievement
- Raised self-esteem
- Better school attendance
- Improved attitude to learning
Our Student Ambassador programme gives more students the opportunity to be role models. Roles include:
The House & Citizenship Ambassadors meet three times in the school year as part of the Student Council, which is led by the Sixth Form Head Student Team. Here, Isleworthians can directly influence the day-to-day life of the school. In 2024-25, topics included community engagement, PPA (homework), active play, teaching & learning, and much more. Outside the Council, the ambassadors were key members of the school, doing things like:
- Helping with charity appeals
- Supporting parent/carer events
- Encouraging peers to get involved
- Supporting our ‘read, read, read’ philosophy to foster a love of reading
There are also many other voluntary leadership roles like librarian, sport and science leaders for primary school events. Once student progress to our Sixth Form, students agree that they will take on extra responsibility - both in terms of their independent learning and taking an even more active role in school life. It expands the ‘learners as leaders’ philosophy in a number of ways, as outlined below.
Ultimately, the purpose of student leadership is clear. It helps builds ‘soft skills’ that are so important. These include communication, empathy, teamwork, critical thinking, cultural competence and even coaching as well as mentoring.
