RCL

Representative Council for Learners

SPEAKING OUT AGAINST GENDER BASED VIOLENCE

In response to the United Nations campaign against gender based violence - Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect! - the RCL ran a campaign to write protest poems against gender based violence. The poem that was picked to express the feelings of the RCL, the students and staff was The Fear is Real by Yasmine Kalemba.

Who are we?

In accordance with the South African Schools Act, a Representative Council of Learners (RCL) is a legislative body that must be established at every public school who enrolls learners from Grades 8 and higher.

The RCL is a democratically elected learner leadership body that becomes the voice of, and represents all students in the school environment.

The RCL Pledge

I pledge myself to uphold the purposes of the Council to which I have been elected. I will uphold the school’s core values, maintain and encourage high standards of scholarship, participation, discipline and service.

Roles and Responsibilities

  • To provide you, the learner, with an opportunity to participate in school governance and appropriate decision making.

  • To enable you, the learner, to contribute towards the improvement of the culture of learning and teaching in the school environment.

  • To uphold the core values of Fairmont High School - Respect, Integrity, Excellence and Service (RISE).

The specific responsibilities of the members of the body are outlined below:

Structure of the RCL

The RCL is made up of 20 learners; 4 from each grade.

A learner exective runs the RCL along with two Teacher Liason Officers.

Duties of the RCL

Chairperson:

  • This learner will be responsible for the overall leadership within the RCL.

  • This learner will be the spokesperson for the RCL at school governance level, as well as learner leadership.

Vice Chairperson:

  • This learner will assist the chairperson with their roles and responsibilities.

Secretary:

  • This learner will be responsible for the administration of the RCL.

Treasurer:

  • This learner will be responsible for managing the finances of the RCL.

PORTFOLIO - Connecting FHS:

  • This portfolio’s responsibility is communication within the school.

  • The learners within this portfolio will be responsible for communicating all proposal feedback to the school.

  • The learners within this portfolio will be responsible for communicating all RCL related projects and events.

  • The class representatives will be the responsibility of this portfolio.

  • This portfolio will be responsible for liaising with other learner leadership bodies, sport and cultural bodies, and the Parent Forum.

PORTFOLIO - The Care Bears:

  • This portfolio’s responsibility is service.

  • The learners within this portfolio will be responsible for service within the school to create a caring environment.

  • The learners within this portfolio will be responsible for serving the community.

PORTFOLIO - Pride and Unity:

  • This portfolio’s responsibility is to ensure that all learners and staff feel part of a greater Fairmont Family.

  • The learners within this portfolio will be responsible for instilling a feeling of pride for our school.

PORTFOLIO - Can We Fix It:

  • This portfolio’s responsibility is to ensure that the facilities at the school are conducive to learning, sports and culture for all learners.