The upcoming general election has sparked a wave of mock elections in independent schools, but keeping pupils engaged in politics shouldn?t stop there, says Giulia Rhodes
As Great Britain takes to the polls this month, many pupils will have had the opportunity to participate in their own school-based mock elections. For Senior Schools, helping students to understand and engage in the political system is a particularly vital part of preparing them for life beyond education.
?We educate our children that they must participate in democracy for it to work. That is the starting point of citizenship,? says Philip Britton, Headmaster of Bolton School Senior Boys? division. ?Schools play a very important role in this.?
Mock elections at Bolton School Boys? division traditionally mirror all major public votes, asking the boys to represent a range of different views, ? ?not necessarily their own, as balance is important?, says Britton ? hold hustings and debates, and then make their own ballot box decisions. It is, Britton says, a process the boys enjoy. ?There is always a fantastic buzz about the school.? The bigger picture
?We try to show what the policy issues might be, and we present the boys with what they should be thinking about, not what they should think, ? he adds. And with some Sixth-Formers voting for the very first time, this opportunity to explore the wider picture is a particularly resonant one.
?In our Year 13 Brexit debates last summer, the two speakers were first-ti...