With many schools cancelling trips to Parliament this week, the Parliamentary Education Service, undeterred by recent events in London, called their local schools and offered a bespoke in-school service.
Consequently, on Election Day, Thursday June 8th 2017, Churchill CEP School welcomed Mrs Kerry Carpenter in, from Parliament, to lead a fascinating assembly on how British Democracy really works.
Pupils began by considering whether there were more ideas or people in the world and, with the general feeling being that each person had more than one idea, the thinking moved on to how so many ideas could be channelled and heard.
Pupils were encouraged to consider which political areas mattered most to them and Kerry led them carefully through some lively discussion noting that, at times, this sounded a little like the House of Commons.
Having explored the three elements of Parliament as being The House of Commons, The House of Lords and The Queen, pupils were encouraged to ask questions about the election day ahead. Whilst Kerry was careful not to promote any one party, pupils were really interested to note that in the case of a tie-break in a constituency, should the spoiled papers not resolve the draw, the final result would be decided by the pulling of straws! Who knew? Thankfully, pupils were swiftly reassured that this had never happened nor was ever likely to given the large numbers involved.
Overall, the assembly was a fascinating insight into the world of politics and has inspired many pupils to continue their research into our government and democratic approach. Churchill pupils would like to extend many thanks to Mrs Kerry Carpenter for coming to share with us.