Inspiring Young Minds on Parliament

On Monday 14th October, 10/Levy and the Y12 Politics A Level class visited the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. A very rainy start to the day followed by a short trip on the Piccadilly and Jubilee lines, and we had arrived.

“This was a lovely trip. The building had lots of amazing artwork and this was the first time I got to see Big Ben” - Ruba 

“It was amazing to be in a room that King Charles III had been in (for the State Opening of Parliament) - it was an unforgettable experience.” - Holly

“I went to the Houses of Parliament alongside my form and had an overall enjoyable experience. During our tour, we went into the House of Commons and the House of Lords and we could see the contrast of statues as we walked in each room, based on the colour palette, size, and intricacy of each room. The interior structure was decorated with portraits of previous monarchs, battlefields and other historic events.

We then had a workshop on petitions. We were allowed to select a cause and prepare a petition. The petitions ranged from improving access to services for young people impacted by poor mental health, improving wages for all NHS workers like hospital porters, reducing or eradicating tuition fees for university and stopping knife-crime in London. We were then given an opportunity to present our causes to the well-known and loved Jeremy Corbyn, where he gave us his opinions of our petitions, suggested improvements and presented some of his ideas that he wanted to bring to light. He explained that he is working with organisations in Islington to improve the mental health of young people. Overall, I enjoyed this experience and recommend it to others”. - Fatimah

“I found the meaning behind the architecture of the Houses of Parliament fascinating. The person who gave our tour was very knowledgeable and educated us on what the symbols mean. One story was that an open fireplace caused the Great Fire of 1834, causing irreversible damage. Queen Victoria then held a competition to find a new architect to redesign the palace. The winners were Charles Barry and Augustus Welby Pugin. They marked their work with a symbol which Parliament still uses to this day.” - Jamila

As always, the behaviour and conduct of students from Highbury Fields School was exemplary, both on public transport and during the tour of the Houses of Parliament. We look forward to taking the other form groups in Y10 later on in the year.

Ms Brown (Head of Y10) & Ms Anwuri (Assistant Headteacher)

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