Frome Town Council (FTC) have recently completed a School Council Voice Project, which saw members of Frome Town Council’s Communities Team visit 14 groups and educational settings, talking to young people about priorities for their school/education group and also for the place they live.
FTC’s Children and Young People’s Officer Melody Hunter-Evans said:
“All of the priorities collected have been turned into word clouds for this exhibition – the larger the word, the more often it came up! The word clouds have been on display in the town hall and we’ve enjoyed hosting visits from all the schools and groups involved, to show them their boards and share the findings of others over squash and biscuits.”
“Interestingly, there were themes that emerged for all groups. The most mentioned topic by all the children and young people who took part was access to parks and outdoor spaces. Children and young people’s access to shops, particularly food shops, was also a common theme, as were access to better swimming/water facilities and keeping Frome clean.
“For the schools’ priorities, outdoor space to play was a top priority, just pipped to the post by the most-mentioned theme: friends and friendship. These themes were closely followed by helping/respecting others and the teachers – and lunch – in fourth place.
“We want to say a huge thank you to all the schools and groups that participated in this project. It has been a pleasure to visit everyone and the work achieved is truly brilliant.”
Mayor Andy Jones said “It’s great to hear from so many young people and to discover how many aspirations they have in common. The information will be really useful to the town council in planning our work; we hope everyone enjoyed taking part.”
