Student Leadership Team - LifeSciences UTC

We hold meetings and discussions in which to come up with ideas to support students. All students are free to contribute and students take turns to lead different initiatives.

What makes our Student LT unique?

When I took over running the Student Leadership Team, I began to research what other schools ‘student councils’ were doing. Could we learn anything from them? I quickly realised the Life Sciences and Studio Student Leadership Team, already does all of the things other schools are doing and more. Everything about the schools in the CUC is unique and students get a different experience to other schools- we are progressive in leading the way, so the Student Leadership Team needs to reflect this. The StLT have quickly become a driving force not afraid to tackle not only small day to day issues in school that just make school life a little bit better- the 6^th Form break time trolley now has the extra milk students wanted!- but they also tackle LGBTQ rights, Feminism, opportunities for girls, issues of poverty and mental health. The Junior Leader’s main aim is to address as many issues as possible faced by students- the understanding needing to be, you may not immediately make a difference to 800 people when you create materials to be shared, but to have a student email to say ‘Thank you for sharing that, that person inspires me’, to have a family be so grateful that students created something to help them in a time of need, to have a student feel more comfortable to come into school knowing they have access to the right bathroom, to a student knowing that their school is behind them in supporting Black Lives Matter and pushing for a more representative curriculum, is what makes the difference, it is what makes it unique.

Laura Bonnesen

What have we achieved so far?

Students in the past year have met with myself and the Principal to discuss equality, the school environment and LGBTQ issues students wished to raise and had direct results, such as more keys available to transgender students to enable them to use a particular bathroom. StLT regularly create materials to promote equality and diversity across the schools, such as the past month and last October, creating daily Black History Month influential figures uploaded daily onto the school’s social media; reaching a wide audience. I was pleased with the recognition the Junior Leadership team received from the UTC’s Ofsted visit in January 2020 and the recognition of the substantial contributions they have made for charity. This is in addition to numerous smaller charities they organised support for, such as Macmillan, YPAS, Mermaids, Operation Christmas Child and food bank drives. Mental Health and Wellbeing is a pressing issue for students particularly in the current situation, and the students also have designed materials for days such as International Men’s Day, International Women’s day and delivered fitness sessions and meditation for wellness and mental wellbeing week. At Christmas, a small team of Year 12 and 13 Student Leaders helped to collect and prepare 50 food hampers and 50 sets of gifts, including for siblings, for the families in our school community.

Serena

Hi my name is Serena Knockaert, I am a year 13 student and Head girl at Life sciences and The Studio school. I am currently studying A level Biology, Chemistry and Maths, and my future goals are to hopefully do medicine at university, and potentially become a cardiologist in the future. In my spare time I really enjoy reading, in particular dystopian fiction and fantasy novels. I’ve recently been trying to learn the basics of piano and learn how to play some songs, (which has been challenging but fun!) I wanted to become head girl because I wanted to make sure that the school doesn’t lack anything in terms of the resources we require by being an appropriate student voice, as well as wanting to give back to the school. Since I joined the UTC in year 10, the school has done a lot for me, in terms of learning and providing support with anything, this resulted in me wanting to give back to the school and the students by becoming head girl to try and make everyone’s journey as great and educational.

I’ve been a part of the Student Leadership Team since I joined the school and I was also a part of my old school’s school council. Being a part of a ‘student voice’ is an amazing experience as it allows me to share my ideas and work together to try and make the school as enjoyable as it can be. It’s also helped me gain more confidence as the role of Head girl requires a lot of communication with senior leaders, visitors and parents. Although, the current pandemic has impacted my ability to fully thrive as head girl, I’ve enjoyed every moment and achieved many things.

Isaac

Hello, my name is Isaac and I am Head Boy at Liverpool Life Sciences UTC and the Studio school. I am currently studying Biology, Chemistry and History. My aim is to go to university to study biochemistry and be at the forefront of scientific innovation. In my spare time I enjoy watching live music and playing rugby. Once at University I intend to further myself in and out of the classroom by trying new activities.

I have always been interested in trying new things and found at the UTC many opportunities were available that could not be found elsewhere. I wanted to join the UTC because of the incredible innovation labs where students can do their own scientific research into an issue they are passionate about allowing students to be proud of their own work.

I wanted to become Head Boy to experience a leadership role and not only voice my opinion but the opinions of my fellow students. Before becoming Head Boy I was involved with the Student Leadership Team participating in charity work and pushes for a more environmentally friendly school environment to combat plastic pollution.