CURRICULUM// PARLIAMENT
POCKLINGTON
PARLIAMENT
DECLARED A
SUCCESS
Thirty
MPs,
representing
the
Conservative,
Labour,
Liberal
Democrat and Green Parties along the
lines of the UK 2017 general election
result, were selected from across the
School to debate current issues along
parliamentary party lines. They also
hosted cabinet and shadow cabinet
meetings, held surgeries and produced
Party posters.
The PSP Prime Minister, Thomas
Brown, said: “I’ve had good fun
debating real topics of running a country
and learned a lot about the challenges
of living up to the expectations of being
Prime Minister.”
The Chancellor, Harry Falkingham,
added: “Being Chancellor was fun and
active and it made my brain think a lot.
I particularly enjoyed making the new
budget. I would advise anybody to get
involved in school parliament.”
The Parliament was two years in the
planning, after current Upper Sixth
Former Cameron Brown proposed the
idea and began working on it with Head
of Middle School Gareth Hughes. The
snap general election in May 2017 put
those plans on hold as they focused on
staging a mock election instead, which
54
THE POCKLINGTONIAN
resulted in Cameron being elected to
the post of Prime Minister, after forming
a coalition government with the Liberal
Democrats. involved- they have shown dedication
and commitment to the project. I wish
future years as much success as we
have had.”
Encouraged by the enthusiasm and
discussion the mock election inspired,
Cameron, Mr Hughes and politics
prefect Henry Burr (Upper Sixth) went
back to the drawing board and started
making plans for a proper Parliament. Headmaster Mark Ronan said: “There
has never been a more important
time to engage Pocklingtonians in
understanding the democratic life of
our country.
Cameron, who hopes to study Law with
Politics at university next year, said
“Being elected the first Prime Minister
of Pocklington School was a great
honour; that election taught many of us
what the political parties stood for and
what they promised to do.
“But this was only half the battle. The
next was taking this a step further and
engaging the school community on how
laws are made and how they would
affect us. Especially at a time when
critical legislation is going through
Parliament, such as the Brexit Bill.
“And while it has been a pleasure to
serve the school I decided it was time
to pass the baton on to the younger
generations, who are our future.
‘As the saying goes: ‘Decisions are made
by those who show up’ and I hope that
I have inspired people to do just that:
show up and be heard.”
Henry added: “Being involved in the
school parliament was an honour and
a privilege. I’m so proud of everyone
“Younger people will face some
significant challenges in their adult
lives including climate change, housing,
health care, the rise of the robot and
conflicts – all issues that need rigorous
debate – and words rather than swords
are always more effective in resolving
such challenges. I hope that the
Pocklington Parliament will flourish
and foster debate that is characterised
by our founding values: with courage
and with truth.”
Mr Hughes added: “The Pocklington
Parliament is one of the best student
led innovations in school that I have
ever seen. Cameron and Henry put so
much time into getting the ‘feel’ right
- even down to modelling the exact
layout of the House of Commons. The
energy, particularly emanating from
some of our youngest students, drove a
democratic crucible to emerge!
“The Parliament is going to remain and
flourish and so therefore the students
should be absolutely delighted and
proud of their accomplishments.”