How to Vote
Advice for inclusive voting
Discover inclusive voting strategies with VotesforSchools, ensuring every student feels valued & heard.
Discover inclusive voting strategies with VotesforSchools, ensuring every student feels valued & heard.
At VotesforSchools, we demonstrate British Values live in the classroom. At the end of every lesson, our students (aka voters) get the opportunity to vote Yes or No about a weekly topic.
This not only prompts engaging classroom discussions, but also amplifies the voices of our voters. We can then share their perspectives with charities, organisations, and Government bodies. Our Voters play a pivotal role in driving change & making an impact, from influencing policy to being the focal point of new projects.
We want to ensure that regular democratic habits are instilled in all voters, and that they feel empowered by and fully included in the voting process. Here are some suggested ways of holding a vote in your classroom, ensuring the comfort and confidence of all:
We offer ballot papers and boxes so that voters can log their votes confidentially and drop them into the box at the end of the lesson. Here, they can self-select how they wish to identify. The papers can be downloaded on your Teacher Dashboard, and you can email us to request your free ballot boxes.
Alternatively, asking voters to close their eyes while voting also works for maintaining anonymity.
Get a ballot box
Teachers can ask voters to raise their hands/stand up when either Yes or No is called, and then count the votes based on existing knowledge of how class members identify. This means voters are not separated by gender identity - instead they are just split by "Yes" and "No". The separation by gender identity then comes later, at the teacher's discretion.
Our general expectation is that voting is carried out based on how an individual is voting, not who that individual is or how they identify. As such, we envisage that teaching staff will know their students well enough to be able to allocate their vote to the gender with which they identify (as opposed to making the students share this with their peers). We strongly advise against separating voting by gender only.
In December 2023, the Government sought consultation on non-statutory guidance for schools & colleges about children questioning their gender. Find out how VotesforSchools can support teachers in creating a supportive, inclusive, and effective learning environment for LGBTQ+ young people.
Download nowComplete this form to access the Inclusion Guidance
It is possible for teachers to bypass the Male and Female drop-down menus on our website when voting and instead enter all votes under the "Diverse" option. This means no voters are singled out.
However, it is important to note that this would prevent schools from having a comprehensive insight into how different issues affect different demographics within the school community.
You can find out more about how we support gender diverse students in our VotesforSchools & LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Schools guidance document.
Download now
It is also possible to set voters up with their own individual logins, allowing them to access the platform and cast their votes themselves. These login details are specific to the voters, and allow them to determine how they identify when their accounts are first set up, so that they do not have to do this every week.
To find out more about any of the information above, please get in touch! You can contact us at info@votesforschools.com or click the button below to book a chat with one of our team.
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