City High students visit Parliament

15 Wakefield City High pupils visited Parliament on 10 March. They were given a guided tour of the Palace of Westminster and watched Prime Minister’s Questions from the public gallery of the House of Commons.  They also met with local MP Mary Creagh and Schools Secretary Ed Balls in a committee room overlooking the River Thames.

The students, from Years 7 to 11, were invited to Parliament by Wakefield MP Mary Creagh. The school selected members of the Youth Parliament, its cyber mentors and a Spelling Bee champion to make the trip to London accompanied by Executive Headteacher Alan Yellup and Susan Morgan, City High’s EAL (English as an additional language) Co-ordinator.

Headteacher Alan Yellup said: “For a number of the children this was their first visit to London and even though they had a tour of all the major sights and landmarks, they were captivated by their experience at the Houses of Parliament.  They returned to Wakefield proudly clutching their Prime Minister's Question Time entry tickets which Ed and Mary had signed. I am very grateful to Mary and Ed for taking so much time to talk to them. Experiences such as this, which helps develop citizenship, should always remain a central part of schools’ curriculum.”

Mary Creagh said: “It was great to welcome the City High students to the House of Commons for Prime Minister’s Questions.  We also had an enjoyable question and answer session afterwards.  The students were impressive and great ambassadors for their school.  City High has had superb GCSE results again this year which is testament to the dedication of Alan Yellup and all the staff.  Visits like this one, to the home of our parliamentary democracy, help bring citizenship out of the classroom and into the real world.”

Ed Balls, MP for Normanton and Schools Secretary, said: “Coming into Parliament is a great way for young people to see first hand how our democracy works. I was very pleased to spend time chatting to the students from Wakefield City High – and answering their questions about the work MPs do to represent them. A couple of the young people are involved in our local Youth Parliament, and may well be speaking at Prime Ministers Questions themselves some day! I hope they enjoyed the visit as much as I did.”