Parliament Trip January 2025

We’ve had a fabulous day visiting Parliament. 

Our Westacre Pupil Parliament had a great day finding out what life is like as an actual Member of Parliament. We left school at 6:00 a.m. to travel to the Palace of Westminster. Our friendly coach driver pointed out some landmarks and interesting sights to us on the way, including Wembley Stadium, Paddington Station, The London Eye, The Shard, Westminster Abbey, The Mall (with Buckingham Palace in the distance).

Upon arriving in Westminster, we saw the sand-coloured stone of the Houses of Parliament and the famous clock tower, holding the bell of Big Ben. We entered through the Education and Visitor Centre, where we met our guide. Each of us put on a headset, so that we could hear the tour of the Houses of Parliament.

Westminster Hall took our breath away, as it is huge and had a section of wall that is over 900 years old. It was really special to see the gold plaques in the floor, to show where Queen Elizabeth II lay in state, before her funeral. Leaders from many nations have addressed Parliament in this part of the building, including Nelson Mandela and Barak Obama. One of our favourite facts about this room was the discovery of tennis balls in the ceiling that have now been dated back to the time of Henry VIII. These tennis balls were lodged in the ceiling by Henry VIII himself, who is thought to have played tennis in this great hall!

Walking into the lobby (the centre of the building) we stood between the corridors leading to the House of Commons, with dark green benches and the corridors leading to the House of Lords, with red benches.

During our visit we were lucky enough to sit in the gallery of the House of Commons, listening to the MPs waiting for the speaker of the house to allow them to share their views on funding for public transport. We watched the MPs ‘bobbing’ up and down hoping to be invited to speak on behalf of their constituents.   In the beautifully decorated House of Lords, we saw the Lords and Baronesses taking part in a debate on the enabling of those with disabilities to access opportunities to work and how those unable to work are currently helped by government.

Our visit also included a interactive workshop in the Education Centre, where we played games to help us to learn about daily life in Parliament and the role of the Palace of Westminster in the U.K.

We were very fortunate to be joined by our local MP, Nigel Huddleston. He encouraged us to ask questions about his work and his time in Parliament. He was really enthusiastic about his role as an MP and told us he feels very lucky to spend a lot of time in Westminster.

The teachers were really proud of the exemplary behaviour, good manners and well-considered questions demonstrated by our Westacre MPs.

It was certainly a day for making special memories!

Liliana- I really enjoyed watching the debate in the House of Commons. Although a lot of the words were difficult to understand, it was fun to see it happen in front of us.

Lucy and Sophia- Our favourite part of the visit was going to listen to the House of Commons debate because we have seen it on T.V. and it was great to actually be there.

Harvey-I thought it was special to go into the House of Lords because the discussions from the House of Commons are passed on to the Lords. Also the room was really grand, with a lot of gold ceilings and furniture.

Elijah – I enjoyed watching both debates because as one person placed a good argument, another person came back with their views building an even better argument. Meeting Nigel Huddleston was also a great experience, as he wanted to hear my views about the world.

Wyatt- It was amazing to see a real debate. Especially as it was about the issue of pupil transport, which is relevant and important to everyone.

Rufus- I really enjoyed looking at all the landmark that we saw during our journey into London.

Alanya- Meeting Nigel Huddleston was one of my highlights of the trip because not everyone gets that opportunity and he had interesting stories to share about his work.

Grace- I enjoyed going into the House of Commons and to see the ‘ping pong’ of the debates.

Amelia- My favourite fact from the day was learning about Henry VIII hitting tennis balls into the ceiling of Westminster Hall!

Danni- Meeting Nigel Huddleston was great because I actually got to meet an MP.

Harry- I really enjoyed our workshop in the Education Centre. Guessing the artefacts in the feely bags and discussing how they related to Parliament was good fun.

Kelsi- Having the chance to visit the Houses of Parliament today was just the opportunity of a lifetime.

A huge congratulations to the following children who have been selected as members of our school Pupil Parliament:

In Year 5: Elijah, Lilina, Alanya, Olivia and Ralph

In Year 6: Danni, Amelia, Kelsi, Rufus and Grace

In Year 7: Harvey, Lucy, George, Sophia and Wyatt

and of course our Head Girl and Head Boy, Sophie and Harry, who will also be part of Pupil Parliament this year!

Parliament Trip - January 2024

Our school MP's had an exciting opportunity of visiting the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday 10th January. Although it was an early start with us leaving school at 6:00am, children enjoyed the coach journey to London - particularly when we got into the city centre! When we arrived, the children met their tour guide and were given ear pieces so that they could clearly hear what was being explained to them. 

Children entered through the Sovereign's Entrance to Parliament that is usually only meant for the monarch however  as we were on an education tour, we were lucky enough to go through it! We then were able to see where the King would get ready before entering parliament. After this, children were taken to the House of Lords. Unfortunately we were unable to see the House of Commons however this was made up by the fact that we witnessed the Procession of the Speaker, a ceremony that happens everyday before parliament is opened.

The Parliament tour finished with a workshop that focussed on democracy and fairness. Children learned about the history of parliament and the Suffragettes who campaigned for women to be able to vote. Our school MP's had a wonderful experience and were even able to meet our local MP, Nigel Huddleston, a couple of days later when he came to visit them! 

Learning with the Lords

July 2023

As part of their outreach program, we were lucky to be contacted by the House of Lords and invited to take part in a Learn with the Lords session via TEAMS. We met with Baroness Garden of Frognal, who talked to us about her journey from teaching to being in the House of Lords. 

We then had the opportunity to ask her a number of questions about her life and role in the House of Lords. She rather liked the idea of our 6 Rs and how they set us up to be good citizens later in life. She told us she was working on an e-safety bill at the moment to protect  children, as well as a life long learning scheme for adults who want to return to learning. 

What a fabulous way to end our year as Westacre Parliament! 

Pupil Parliament 2022-23

This week, Westacre MPs were thrilled to visit the Houses of Parliament in London.

After a long hiatus, due to the pandemic, we were thrilled for our application to be accepted and set off (rather early!) to London to visit the historic Palace of Westminster. We had a tour of the palace, including Westminster Hall (where Her Majesty the Queen lay in state), the Houses of Commons and Lords and seeing so many familiar sights. Both houses were sitting during our day, so it was fascinating to see Block Rod, many Lords and Baronesses as well as artwork, plaques and architecture from over 1000 years ago!

We then went to the education centre and had a discussion of fairness, voting, democracy and heard the story of the Suffragettes. After that, we met with our local MP (Nigel Huddleston) who answered questions and talked to us about his job at Parliament.

We had a fabulous day!

PUPIL PARLIAMENT 2022-23

Pupil Parliament have met this year to start this year's events in school....

We are supporting the Operation Christmas Child  and collecting these from each class. They will be collected from school on 18th November

More information about their Shoebox Appeal

We are also looking forward to Pupil Parliament Week, with its theme of MAKE A DIFFERENCE. We shall be seeing how all our Westacre community can make a difference during that week.

Pupil Parliament 2022-23

Your School Needs You!

I am very excited to ask for candidates for the NEW MPs for the academic year of 2022-23. I am looking for children from each class who will contribute to class discussions, who can collect information from their class, who can communicate clearly with myself and other staff.

If you think you are an ideal candidate, I need you to consider your "manifesto" ready for September!

Pupil Parliament members have an important role to play in school decisions, improving our school and learning, meeting other members of the school community as well as our local councillors and Member of Parliament. 

I look forward to hearing your ideas and manifesto plans!

Mrs Underhill

MPs meeting with caterers

Today, the MPs have met with our school caterers, AIP, to discuss their classmates opinions on our school lunches. They have fed back to AIP with very considered thoughts, listened carefully and discussed maturely. 
 

MP meeting to discuss School Lunches

Our caterers have asked to meet the MPs to discuss our school lunch choices. We look forward to collecting views and sharing them.

MP's Meeting for Jubilee

We have held meetings to collect ideas for our Westacre Jubilee Celebration. A variety of ideas came forward; garden parties, fancy dress, making flags and a parade. We shall see what is eventually decided from our long list!

Pupil Parliament

Hello, Mrs Underhill here to tell you what being a Westacre MP (member of parliament) is all about!

As pupil parliament members we…

• Follow the democratic process and are elected by our class
• Listen to the ideas and thoughts of the other children in our class
• Twice a half term, we have lunch together, share and discuss the issues raised within our class discussions.
• Work together to make our school a better place for all
• Meet with members of staff and other adults to discuss issues.
• Outside the medical room, you can find representatives of Pupil Parliament who are happy to listen to ideas. 
• Know our job is to represent and be the voice of our class.
• Have a representative for each class in school so each year group is fairly represented.

Our Intent is …

• We aim to make sure that our school is a safe and happy place for children.
• We are working to improve our school and learning environment for every pupil by acting as a voice for all pupils in our school.
• We propose and take forward initiatives and projects on behalf of our peers.
• We ensure improve our school and learning environment for every pupil by acting a voice for all pupils in our school.
• We learn about and promote British democracy
• We play an active role in making our school a better place

 As a MP, you would be expected to attend parliament meetings (possibly more frequently depending on how much discussion we need, or how much news/progress we have to share). We have a working lunch over in the hub where we share all our thoughts and ideas. You would then feedback what we have discussed in our meetings to your classmates during tutor time. If any of your classmates had any suggestions about how we could improve our school, they would speak to you and then you would share these ideas at our meeting.

We have a meeting with our own local MP-Nigel Huddleston- planned as part of pupil parliament week in November and most exciting we will hopefully be visiting the Houses of Parliament in London! This is a fascinating trip and gives you the opportunity to see democracy in action.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in, then please fill out the application form below.