Main picture: front cover star Ben McCoid (right) with fellow pupils from Highlands Primary (left to right) Sarah Jessop, Georgia Portz and Corey Reeve. Below: Hull City Council leader, Cllr Carl Minns with pupils from Trinity House School and St Mary's College

Children of the revolution

Children and young people have the chance to influence decisions which affect them.

You're a fifteen-year-old boy and you've been told you're taking over from the head teacher of your school for the day.
What do you do?
Abandon lessons and organise the whole school in a five-a-side football tournament? Or maybe just 'chill' in the office with a few mates and a bit of music? Or how about doing exactly what a head teacher is supposed to do?
When Marc Pitson, a year 10 pupil at Hull Trinity House School, took over from head teacher Andrew Twaits, he began the day with a briefing for teachers in the staffroom before addressing the entire school as head of the daily parade.
The rest of the day comprised of meetings, answering the phone, report writing and liaising with the head's secretary.
"I was shadowing the real head most of the time apart from in the afternoon when he had to go to a confidential meeting," says Mark.
"I learned that it's not an easy job and takes a lot of work – but it was very enjoyable and very educational."

The day kids took over

Marc was just one of scores of children and young people across the city who either took over from, shadowed, or had meetings with adults in positions of power as part of National Children's Takeover Day.
Events in Hull included pupils from St. Mary's College accompanying director of housing John Hocking on a visit to three flood-affected homes.They also attended a flood recovery meeting to hear what was happening to help flood victims and to share their views.
St Mary's pupils also joined pupils from Trinity House School for a meeting with council leader Cllr Carl Minns and Cllr Mike Ross, portfolio holder for education, about promoting a positive image of children and young people in Hull.
"It was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the positive contribution children and young people make to society," says Cllr Minns.
"Not only was it a chance for them to see what it's like to work in these big organisations and voice their opinions, but it was an opportunity for us to listen to their suggestions and hear about issues important to them."

Shaping policy in 2008 and beyond

Cllr Mike Ross, who is responsible for education in Hull, with a Trinity House pupil

Some of the views expressed by the youngsters are being taken on board by council leaders, and pledges have already been made to:

• Make sure children and young people help to decide what is developed in their local areas.
• Put on extra activities for children and young people who have been flooded.
• Reduce pupil absence and exclusions from schools.
• Open a new library for children and young people.
• Look at changing the perception of young people when they enter shops in the city.

Other happenings

Pupils from Endike primary looked into how customer service centres could be made more 'friendly' to children and young people, at a meeting with Cllr Abi Walker.
Other children looked at transport issues with director of children and young people's services Nigel Richardson and deputy leader of Hull City Council, Christine Randall.
Two Trinity House pupils became firefighters for the day, while youngsters from Stoneferry Primary helped police with speed gun checks.

For more information visit www.hullcc.gov.uk or www.hullchildrensfund.org.uk or call 300300.

Meeting the top man Imagine having lunch with a man in charge of 14,500 people and casually asking him about the responsibilites of his job. Well that was the case for these year six pupils – all members of their school council at Highlands Primary on Bransholme – who interviewed Hull City Council's chief executive Kim Ryley at The Guildhall. "How does the council help children in the city?" asked Ben McCoid, aged 10. "We make sure that no child gets left out of anything," said Mr Ryley. "We make sure schools have all you need to give you a good education and we do a lot of things for children who need special care." Do you help people on-line? What are the roles, responsibilities and consequences of your job? The questions had been well thought through and in Mr Ryley's answers the children learned about some of the services the council provides, including parks and gardens, roads and pavements, leisure centres and waste collections. "The council affects the lives of everyone who lives in Hull," said Mr Ryley. "And it's my job to make sure that everything is running smoothly everyday and that everybody in Hull gets what they want from the council." At the end of the meeting Mr Ryley pledged that he would look into a couple of issues which the children felt strongly about. These were to look into replacing and protecting play equipment which had been vandalised in a local park, and to explore solutions to dealing with graffiti. The children were keen for Mr Ryley to look into whether there could be a dedicated place where grafitti could be encouraged in a positive way.