TY - JOUR AB - Purpose– This paper sets out to describe a small case study which aimed to unravel the complexity of pupil participation in secondary schools.Design/methodology/approach– A secondary school in the south of England was selected as the case. Four group interviews, one individual interview and collection of relevant Healthy School documents provided data from which to begin to understand the mechanism, context and outcome of pupil participation in the case school.Findings– The paper attempts to illuminate the theoretical underpinning for pupil participation with comments made by staff and pupils from the case study school. The mechanisms of participation are discussed briefly; however, it is recognised that individual schools will select initiatives according to their preference. Tentative evidence of a positive outcome for pupils who participate in school decision making is revealed. By exploring the context, or conditions, under which involvement occurs possible strategies for effective pupil participation are elicited.Practical implications– The paper offers a framework for effective pupil participation.Originality/value– The paper attempts to go some way towards illuminating the theory and practice of effective pupil participation. VL - 109 IS - 1 SN - 0965-4283 DO - 10.1108/09654280910923390 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/09654280910923390 AU - Wilson Lyn ED - Ray Marks PY - 2009 Y1 - 2009/01/01 TI - Pupil participation: comments from a case study T2 - Health Education PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited SP - 86 EP - 102 Y2 - 2024/04/25 ER -