School Council watch the Lords in session at Westminster

On Friday, all sixteen members of our School Council visited the Houses of Parliament in London. We boarded the train for our adventure into Westminster to explore how democracy works in the United Kingdom. We bumped into a Lord at Westminster tube and he gave us an insight into what he had on that day. He showed us the list of debates for the day. Read more...

How is the United Kingdom governed?

Earl of Erroll's profile on the BBC

Mrs Flynn introduces us to Lord Erroll.

Once inside, we walked, open mouthed, through the Palace of Westminster. We went right into the House of Commons as they were not in session. We stood at the despatch box where David Cameron, our Prime Minister, stands. The House of Commons is a lot smaller than it looks on the television!

Next, we walked through Central Lobby to the House of Lords. The Lords were actually having a debate when we were there, so we sat quietly in the 'Strangers Gallery' to watch for a few minutes.

We finished with an Election Workshop organised by the Education Centre at Westminster. We held our own election, learned about manifestos and constituencies. We look forward to sharing what we've learned with the rest of the school.