After a session spent getting to grips with the intricacies of the legislative process, Year 9 boys worked together to devise campaigns aimed at amending fictional Parliamentary bills.
As part of their Humanities Enrichment Day, the pupils learned about how legislation is formed and then used campaigning tools old and new to lobby for change, from writing letters to an MP to creating an internet meme and composing tweets.
Head of Geography Emily Parry said: “The aim of the session was to provide students with an understanding of how laws are made and how they and the wider public can influence this process.”
After initial talks, the boys took the opportunity to ask questions and then split into groups to design their lobbying activities, with social media campaigning to the fore.
Head of Academic Enrichment Nisha Mayer said: “The boys got into the competitive spirit of the day and made some very creative campaigns.”
The fictional bills about which they campaigned were:
- Abortion Bill, with abortions to be made illegal in all circumstances
- International Aid Bill, increasing the UK’s international aid budget from 0.7% of GDP to 2%
- Nuclear Power Bill, under which the UK’s energy supply will be 100% nuclear by 2040
- School Uniform Bill, prohibiting gender-specific school uniforms
- Voting Age Bill, lowering the age of voting in UK parliamentary elections to 14
- Wage Cap Bill, enforcing limits so that the highest earner within a company can only earn a maximum of ten times the lowest earner.