The Children's Commissioner for Wales, Peter Clarke, has visited Tenby Junior School to see its school council in action.

The commissioner talked to members of the council about the contribution they make to the life of the school.

The school council began in May last year and pupils elected representatives from each of their classes to attend monthly meetings.

During the meetings, issues that concern pupils in their school community are discussed. Pupils have been directly involved in bringing about positive changes to benefit the whole school.

The pupils themselves set the agenda and write up the minutes under the guidance of the link teacher, Mrs. Averil Upham. The head teacher, Jan Llewellyn, attends the meetings.

They have a set budget to work with during the year to make various purchases on behalf of their fellow pupils.

During the class council sessions, which take place every three weeks, different pupils are given the opportunity to take a central role in chairing the meeting on a rota.

In September, 2002, the school council responded to a survey initiated by the Children's Commissioner for Wales about the standard of toilets in schools in Wales. In response to the letter, the commissioner was interested to find out more about the school's class councils.

Mr. Clarke was given a tour of the school by a group of pupils and introduced to all the staff.

The pupils then held a forum with the commissioner and a question and answer session dealt with issues of interest and concern to the pupils.