School Council 'Lord it with the Commoners'!
On Thursday 16 June 2022, the school council from St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Broadstairs travelled to London to visit the Houses of Parliament. During their tour of the Palace of Westminster, they visited the House of Commons to watch a debate about British support to the Ukraine. Pupils then observed in the House of Lords, where they debated the importance of both Houses of Government being co-located. As the group exited the Strangers gallery in the House of Lords, they met a Baroness, who spoke to pupils about how you become a member of the House of Lords.
The group also learnt about the history of the Palace of Westminster and about the composition of both Houses.
The children really enjoyed their visit and proved themselves to be very knowledgeable about politics and democracy. They were great ambassadors for St Joseph’s!
The children said the following about their day:
Ava: “I found out how debates work and the process of how you can speak in the House of Commons.”
Harry: “I really enjoyed the House of Commmon and Lords because of the debates going on. We got to find out lots of new and interesting facts.”
Olivia: “I liked seeing what the building that we see on TV look like in real life, it was so interesting to see a real life debate.”
Mrs Sandwell who organised the trip explained, “ We feel very fortunate that we have been able to provide the children this exciting opportunity. We began our process to apply for a visit in January of this year and only found out a few weeks ago we had been successful in our application. During our Democracy week in September, our school council representatives were voted for in a democratic process, making their own speeches and being voted for by their peers, so it is very in keeping that the children were able to see the home of democracy in our country.”
St Joseph's school council is comprised of 14 children from Year 2 through to Year 6. The school council represent their classes in meetings with school leaders, meet visitors and perform duties across the school.
