On Monday 22nd April, Rachel, from UK Parliament visited school to work with students in Years 9 and 10 to help develop their understanding about Parliament in the UK and how they can become active citizens in out democratic society. Ivy and Nell in Year 10 share more below:
We were privileged to take part in a workshop explaining the role of the government, how it works and the importance of using our vote. We learned about how to vote and the difference that our vote can make. Rachel talked us through the procedures of parliament that we don't hear about and the development of where our ideas would lead if we wanted to make a change in our area further. She also went through who and where we would share these ideas and how they would be acknowledged.
To practice this, we split into groups and came up with our own campaigns about something we would like to change. The ideas were varied; some came up with the ideas of free transportation for students, some came up with solutions for the lack of mental health facilities and support within the education system and some took into the consideration the problems we face with single use plastic, especially within schools. We then chose out of a group, which would be the most appropriate option to raise awareness of these issues and which would get the most attention, whether it would be through petitions, social media, protesting or maybe even contacting your local MP or if the opportunity was there, reaching out to a celebrity that could help bring attention to the issue and support the campaign. We all thought the workshop was very beneficial and we'd like to thank Rachel for the opportunity to work with her expertise.
