Politics Students Provide Information To MP For Parliamentary Debate

Year 12 Politics students actively participated in their democracy by having their say on whether or not PE should be a core subject in the GCSE.  They answered questions generated by Edward Timpson CBE MP who was collecting information for a Westminster Hall debate on 23/03/22.  To inform his debate, the students answered questions like ‘What do you think are the key barriers preventing more children and young people from fully participating in PE, physical activity and sport?’ and  ‘What would be the most effective measures that the Government could implement to improve outcomes for children and young people participating in PE at school?’  Mr. Timpson said: ‘’This debate represents an opportunity to draw the Government’s attention back to this critical recommendation and its effects on improving, not only children’s physical well and mental wellbeing, but also their academic performance, both now, as we emerge from the pandemic and in the future.’’ 

The students enjoyed this activity very much and said it helped them because they were ‘able to weigh in on discussions about future changes in young people’s lives’ and that they ‘liked the opportunity to actively participate in politics and share things with an MP who can make a difference to things that I have actually seen growing up.’  Students further related this experience to class by saying this opportunity ‘helped me to understand how MPs will look for opinions of people within their constituency so that they can better represent people in parliament, showing that my opinion counts.’  The students further commented that they ‘realised now how committees work and how they could actually influence policies that we are learning about in class even though they can’t vote yet.’  Overall, the students recommended this experience to others and unanimously agreed that they now see how they can contribute to change as a member of the public.  Ms. Markatos and Mr. Woodward are very proud of the students for taking an active role in politics and are looking forward to the upcoming trip to Westminster with the students in June.