UNIT 3: Circle Meetings at Umubano Academy

UNIT 3: Behaviour Management - Active Citizenship, School and Parent Engagement


Circle Meetings at Umubano Academy


Unit 3 4

Circle Meetings are held every Monday morning at Umubano Academy. The learners from P1 to S3 learners are split into nine equal groups, so that each group has a mixture of learners from each year group and of boys and girls. Each group is given a classroom for their weekly Circle Meeting.  Based on the needs of the school, a different issue is discussed every week. The Circle Meeting topic is decided every week by the school’s leadership team, during leadership team meetings. The leadership team also asks for ideas from the teachers who direct P6 and S3 leaders to ask for inputs from their Circle group members

At Umubano Academy, the P6 and S3 learners are then responsible for leading the Circle Meetings.

Every meeting begins with a warm-up game e.g. having the learners throw a ball to each other while saying each other's names. Then, learners discuss the weekly topic and give their ideas. Teachers are also part of the Circle.

In order to give every Circle Meeting member the chance to contribute, a soft toy (or another small object) is passed around the circle. When a learner or teacher has the toy, it is their turn to share their idea on the topic and for everyone else to listen and not interrupt; members of the group can also choose to pass if they do not feel they have anything they wish to say at that time.

Topics for Circle Meetings need to be chosen carefully. Appropriate topics may include:
  • Open questions e.g. How can we improve our playground games?
  • Topics that have lots of different possible answers or ideas e.g. What makes you feel safe at school?
  • Topics that promote active citizenship to encourage individual and social action e.g. How can we care for our school environment?


Last modified: Monday, 9 October 2023, 3:26 PM