LOCAL DEMOCRACY DAY 8.11.07
DAME JUDITH CENTRE, COSHAM

Linda Makoni, Olivia Johnson, Will Ross-Gerard and Martyn Ibbs joined Mrs Sage in order to attend the Local Democracy Day.  This was running in parallel with an activity for adults at Portsmouth University and, during the day, the pupils’ comments were sent to that group to help inform their discussions.

The Solent People’s Theatre presented their drama entitled “Who Runs This Place?”   It was an amusing explanation of the structure of Local Government and had us all laughing and learning with great pleasure.  After coffee, the theatre group led a workshop session which involved actions, discussions and an experience of voting procedures.

In the afternoon, we were divided randomly into two groups.  One half went off to tackle the WIBBI i.e. “wouldn’t it be better if” question.  It soon became clear that neither pupils nor staff knew a lot about Government proposals and Portsmouth’s ideas for implementing these.  The pupils were challenged to suggest their own ideas for making Portsmouth a good place to live in in the next 5 – 15 years.

The second activity was called “Political Speed Dating”.  Pupils sat opposite members of Portsmouth City Council and had the opportunity to question them directly about local matters.  They then had the opportunity to score the politicians for their apparent honesty and commitment to open government.  Later, Cllr Leo Madden said how impressed he had been by his conversations with St. Edmund’s’ pupils.

When the group came together at the end, several youngsters explained their ideas.  Here, Martyn is waiting for his turn

David Hart closed the day by thanking everyone for their contribution to the day.  We were given ‘post-its’ to write brief evaluations and there was a competition to see who could place it in the highest position to demonstrate our satisfaction with the day’s events