Engaging young people in the general election
Bootham School, York hosted the candidates for York Central constituency at a hustings event with students and parents from schools in the Independent State School Partnership. Students and staff then voted in our mock election.
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Remember your responsibilities as a citizen for the conduct of local, national, and international affairs. Do not shrink from the time and effort your involvement may demand.
- Advices & queries, 34
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As a school we were keen to engage our pupils with the election. Our Leadership Meeting decided that we would run a mock election and, through morning meetings and other events, inform our students about the different political parties and the voting process.
Engaging in the debate
A hustings evening was held with all the declared candidates for our constituency attending. This was a great evening with fantastic and probing questions from students and parents. Parents and students from schools in the York Independent State School Partnership also joined us. The whole event can be viewed on YouTube.
After the Easter break our students formed campaign teams and created a politics board by the lunch queue to promote debate. Discussions were also held on our online politics forums and students were encouraged to take surveys to see whose policies they agreed with the most.
The mock election
The mock election was held on Election Day and was as close to the real event as possible. Students came with their polling cards and were able to vote for all the parties standing in York Central. Our turnout was higher than the country's and the level of engagement was excellent. A full breakdown of results can be viewed online.
Altogether it was a fantastic experience and met our aims of informing and engaging our students.