Children can change the world! - Primary Parliament, Autumn 2024
“We are the next generation”
We were thrilled to kickstart the 2024-25 Primary Parliament programme this year with 2.5 days of exciting workshops and presentations delivered in partnership with Nottingham City Council, Child Friendly Nottingham and ChalleNGe. A huge thank you goes to YSP Media and students from Nottingham College for all their support in delivering workshops and documenting the sessions.
The theme of Primary Parliament for this term was Your Voice Matters and 129 children from 30 Nottingham City schools looked at the importance of sharing their thoughts, opinions and ideas and having their voices heard. Through interactive and creative activities, the Primary Parliamentarians learnt about verbal, written, visual, and digital forms of communication and were encouraged and empowered to use them to tell us what matters to them.
During the workshops, we considered the influence that the Primary Parliamentarians can have on issues at school, in their local community, in the city, and across the country and how to effectively be seen, heard and listened to by adults. With their peers, the children practised their power poses and projecting their voices to confidently speak about their thoughts and ideas and they wrote letters to their school leaders, MPs, the UK Government, and the UN about issues such as climate change, littering, homelessness, and the benefits of outdoor learning. The Primary Parliamentarians also recorded vox-pop interviews on camera about why their voice matters, and created bold visuals in large posters which conveyed messages about deforestation, domestic abuse, fairtrade, and better facilities for their local community.
At the end of each session of Primary Parliament, the children presented powerful messages through posters, dramatic performances, role-playing, and raps about issues such as their preferred ways to learn, racism, welcoming refugees, bullying, discrimination, and what we can do to save the planet. Each Primary Parliamentarian’s voice was heard loud and clear as the adults in the room listened and took note of what they had to say and when one child told us she wanted to have an article published in Left Lion Magazine, it was arranged for her to speak to the editor who asked her to submit an article from the point of view of a child from Nottingham.
Throughout each day, we saw such a huge growth in confidence and pride from the Primary Parliamentarians as they challenged themselves to communicate in ways that they hadn’t tried before. When we asked the Primary Parliamentarians why their thoughts and ideas were important, they shared that “they can inspire”, “children can change the world”, and that “everyone needs to have a say”.
Thank you to all the children from the following schools who took part in all the workshops and used their voices to tell us what was important to them: Ambleside, Bluecoat, Bulwell St Marys, Cantrell, Carrington, Crabtree Farm, Djanogly Sherwood, Dovecote, Edna G Olds, Firbeck, Forest Fields, Glade Hill, Greenfields, Haydn, Henry Whipple, Jubilee LEAD, Mellers, Oak Field, Radford, Rise Park, Robin Hood, Rosslyn Park, Rufford, Snape Wood, Sneinton CoE, Southwold, St Patrick's, St Teresa's, Warren, and Woodlands. We learnt so much from you!
Primary Parliament will also take place in Spring Term and Summer Term 2025 and you can register your school to get involved here.
Comments