For British international schools

A School Council
led by pupils.

A School Council with real structure, real evidence and genuine inclusion. £199 for the year, whole school.

Pupils smiling together while writing their ideas at a School Council event Reaches every class No extra workload Evidence that builds itself Nothing to plan
Loved by
Zurich International School The British International School Budapest German Swiss International School, Hong Kong Taipei European School International School Rheintal
Building better pupil voice

What a Smart School Council changes

The usual School Council
  • The same few pupils, deciding for everyone
  • Meetings to plan, and staff carrying it
  • Patchy, last-minute evidence that might not stand up
A Smart School Council
  • Pupils run it, and the question goes out to every class
  • Every meeting arrives ready, nothing to plan
  • Evidence building as you go, for your improvement plan and your next accreditation visit
Pupils lead it

Every meeting, already prepared

Your School Council picks a question and the whole meeting comes with it: the slides, the debate pack, the video. Nothing to plan and nothing to print. Pupils run it, in every class.

Pupils leading their class meeting
Straight back to you

Immediate pupil-voice insights

The moment pupils vote you get a plain-English read on the themes and the ideas. That is learner participation, evidenced as it happens rather than written up afterwards.

From that, you learn
📈 20% more mentions of noise than this time last year
🔎 Year 6 pupils are most likely to want a quiet space
💬 43 comments across all 7 classes
● Live7 of 7 classes voted
How could we make lunchtimes better?
More time to eat41%
A quieter space24%
More choice18%
💬 What pupils said
🧒🏽

"It gets too loud in the hall"

Year 4 pupil
🧒🏿

"We never get time to finish our food"

Year 3 pupil
🧒🏼

"Can we have a quiet table?"

Year 5 pupil
Evidence, always

The evidence dashboard

Every meeting builds evidence against your school improvement plan and Article 12 of the UNCRC, which nearly every country in the world has signed. See what is ready and export it the moment anyone asks.

Your evidencePupil voice
1 of 6 areas evidence-ready
21 class meetings · 1.2k pupil votes
Pupil participation3 of 4 ✓
WellbeingReady ✓
Oracy and debateBuilding
Children’s rightsNot yet

Typically the more able, the more confident and the more advantaged.

Who gets elected to a School Council. Our research with UCL’s Institute of Education.

School Councils often only hear from a small group. We build on the School Council you already have so that it reaches every voice: the quiet child, the pupil with additional support needs.

Subsidised places

Set your school up

£199 for the year, whole school. No per-pupil cost.
10subsidised places for international schools
  • A CPD session to get your team started, and a full year of membership
  • Meetings and elections, done for you
  • 10,000 ready-made questions, nothing to plan
  • Evidence building as you go, for your improvement plan and your next accreditation visit
  • Pay by invoice or card, cancel anytime
Used in around 700 schools worldwide · Registered charity 1156110

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From us, and from school leaders

Who you would be joining

Greg Sanderson, founder of Smart School Councils

We are an education charity, and around 700 schools run this with us, from Kent to Zurich, Budapest, Hong Kong and Taipei. I am holding ten of these places for international schools, and if you email me about one, it will be me who replies.

Greg SandersonFounder, Smart School Councils
TEDx Watch my TED talk →
★★★★★

We want our children to be leaders of change. It's their school.

LT
Lisa Taylor
Headteacher, Halling Primary
★★★★★

It's fantastic. It develops lifelong skills of debate and speaking. So important for our pupils.

DA
Damien Cresswell
Associate Head, Keys Group
★★★★★

There's no added workload. It's all resourced. That's the biggest barrier removed.

DH
Danny Hart
Head of Literacy, The Observatory School
Good to know

Frequently asked questions

Does it add to teacher workload?

No. It gives your School Council lead a clear structure to run the year, with ready-made questions, debate packs and videos for every class meeting. Pupils lead the meetings; staff facilitate, they don't prep.

Which stages does it work with?

Every stage, early years through primary and secondary, and SEN and special schools. The questions and format adapt to the class.

Is pupil data safe?

The platform stores no sensitive pupil data. It's GDPR-compliant and safeguarding-first.

Is there really no per-pupil cost?

No. £199 covers the whole school for the year, however many pupils and classes you have, and it includes the CPD session and a full year of membership.