Sixth Form Students Debate Politics with Local Representatives
Charters Sixth Form students are encouraged to use their voice and listening to the views and wishes of our cohort is an important part of the Charters ethos.
Showing the Year 12 and 13 students that their opinions matter in a wider context was brought to life this week when the Sixth Form welcomed local representatives from a broad spectrum of political parties to the Charters Question Time debate.
While the debate was live-streamed to the Year 12 students who watched from their Tutor rooms, the Year 13 cohort formed the audience for the questions, which were posed in the school's Common Room.
The panel, (which consisted of Peter Shearman - Labour, Jack Rankin - Conservative, Julian Tisi - Lib Dem and Michael Boyle - Green Party) was asked a range of interesting questions which included: How can MPs justify a 5% pay rise?, Is it fair to charge university students £9,250 a year for tuition fees?, Whether the government’s Rwanda policy was still viable and ethical as the Supreme Court had ruled against it? and What is being done to repair local roads, as the impact of damage to cars caused by potholes is driving up insurance and pricing out young drivers?
The debate lasted an hour, and it was interesting for the students to hear the differing opinions of the parties as the representatives answered the questions. After the debate, the students were able to chat with the delegates, and share their views on the topics.
Head of Year 12 Mr Metson said, ‘I was hugely impressed with the way the students engaged with the debate asking challenging questions of the prospective Windsor MP candidates and eloquently explaining their concerns and views on a wide range of topics. As I said at the start of the debate, we are privileged to live in a democracy with freedom of expression and speech so we urge all students to register for, and then use their vote, as well as feeling empowered to contact the candidates, be politically active and put forward the issues that matter to young people’
We would like to thank Year 12 students Maisy, Ollie and Biggs from the Social Action group for their help in organising the event
Our thanks also to Peter, Jack, Julian and Michael for taking the time to take part in this initiative and for Head of Year 12, Mr Metson, for chairing the debate.
