Student Council 01/04/2014

Student Council Proposal N002:

Study room proposal
What
The Student Council would like to propose that, during lunchtimes, two rooms (preferably
classrooms) are set aside to be used as study rooms. These rooms would provide students with
a quiet environment for study. In one room, talking is completely prohibited (under the
penalty of detention, for instance), while in the other one, quiet discussion is permitted.
These rooms cannot be combined into one as classroom acoustics make the faintest whispers
audible (if it is a completely silent environment), disrupting those students that need complete
silence to study.
Why
In theory, the library should serve as the ideal quiet study environment. However, that is not
the case, as the library at present serves as a place for social gathering and loud conversation.
Due to the numerous complains that have been set forth by the student council regarding the
schools failure to provide silent library and taking into consideration that the school has not
been able to rectify the problem, it was decided that an alternate solution should be explored
The student council acknowledges that converting a place that is frequently used to hang out
during break times and lunchtimes is an extremely arduous task, especially since the school
does not provide any alternate comfortable indoor locations for the students to use; hence,
the study rooms.
How
All that is needed is two room to be set aside, and a rotation of teachers selected to perform
supervision in these rooms every day of the week. Inspectors are not perceived as good
supervisors by the student council as they carry radios that sporadically emit noise. Backup
supervisors, in case the first supervisor does not attend to duty that day, should also be
specified. Furthermore, a general third backup should also be decided upon, in the extreme
cases that the first and second backup fail to attend.
These supervisors must understand it should be terminally prohibited to talk in the quiet
study room (and that includes them as well) while in the discussion study room it is
permitted, as long as it is verging on whispers (it is expected that teachers are strict, but
sensible in their definition of quiet discussion).
As maximum quietness is the aim, it would also be suggested that a classroom in a quiet
location is selected. The student council recommends any classroom in the third floor of block
C, as most of those rooms are equipped with comfortable chairs, appropriate lighting and are
far away from any source of noise. They are also near to an ICT lab.
If this proposal is accepted, the student council will draw up a set of rules that students should
follow, while the student council would kindly request the school to cooperate with them to
decide the location of the room and select the teachers for supervision.
Student Council 01/04/2014
Final remarks
The student council would like to urge the school to understand the importance of having a
quiet room for study, especially for students in class 9 and class 11, which will be taking the
final IGCSE and IB examinations, respectively. The student council would also like the school to
think carefully about attempting to solve this issue by addressing the noisiness of the library,
as this is not a viable option. The problem in the library is caused by the lack of an indoor,
comfortable location for students to sit down and relax, and this cannot be solved promptly by
any practical means.