Exceptional Education at the Heart of the Community

Student Leadership

We aim for our students to be as involved and engaged with their own education and academy as possible.

We want their ideas and achievements to be celebrated, creating a real community feel amongst students and teachers alike. There are a number of ways in which we encourage student leaders to play an active part in the running of the school.


The Student Prefects

Being a student prefect is an opportunity for our students to gain confidence and develop leadership skills. Students know their voice is being heard and their opinions listened to. They know their contributions will help to make our school the best it can be.

Student voice is important at Brightstowe. The prefect team are involved in our recruitment of all new staff. They make up our student panel and pose questions to candidates. Prefects meet once a week to discuss issues and ideas - either suggested by their peers in tutor time or brought to discuss from the Academy Leadership Team.  Prefects then feed back to the Academy Leadership Team with ideas and solutions which they would like to see taken forward.

So far the Prefects have organised a successful bake sale, raised money for the Shirehampton Christmas lights, discussed homework, rewards, trips, career events and the options process, and successfully carried out a tree-planting exercise. 


‘Navy Blue’ student leaders

Our vision is for the academy to develop students with the confidence and range of skills to stand as equals in any circle and for any opportunity.

Our ‘Navy Blue’ students wear a navy blue tie to mark them out as student leaders and we equip them with the essential leadership skills required for the role. They complete duties at the start of the day and at break time, run our Reward Shop, and are expected to be role models to all students and visitors, including challenging their colleagues on behaviour and showing visitors around.

They ensure our academy is beautiful and welcoming. In return, they receive a programme of leadership development and the chance to lead on social change projects and charitable projects within the school.

Each ‘Navy Blue’ student chooses a specialist area on which to lead – a topic which they feel passionately about. These areas include primary school liaison, working on eco-issues or events and marketing. The aim of this is to support them with relevant work experience and leadership opportunities for their future courses and careers after Oasis Academy Brightstowe.

Our leadership sessions cover:

  • Presentation skills – public speaking; appearance; meeting and greeting; how to create an impactful and visual presentation
  • Project management – how to take ideas from thought to action; how to backward-plan and ensure a plan for success; how to manage money in projects; how to evaluate success
  • Teamwork – how to lead a team effectively; how to enable and develop others effectively; how to have challenging but constructive conversations
  • Conflict resolution – how to professionally deal with complaints, non-compliance and disagreement
  • Influencing and persuading – how to motivate and inspire people, in order to lead successful teams
  • Marketing and advertising – learning about creating and sustaining brands; how to raise the profile of events and issues
  • Resilience training – How to learn from mistakes; how to ‘save face’ professionally; how to be honest and humble when required

Sports leaders

Our Sports Leaders help lead purposeful and enjoyable sporting activities, while developing essential leadership skills including organisation, planning, communication and teamwork through the medium of sport.