School Council to the Houses of Parliament

Our School Council were lucky enough to visit the iconic Houses of Parliament. This fantastic trip has now been running for three years at Aragon Primary, and it never disappoints.

It was an amazing day during which the children learnt so much about our country's traditions and pageantry. For example, did you know that a bell sounds when a new law needs to be voted on, and MPs have only eight minutes to cast their vote? This tradition dates back to when it took the Prime Minister eight minutes to travel from Downing Street to the Houses of Parliament—though we’re not sure if that’s still the case today!

Siobhain McDonagh, the Labour MP for Merton and Morden, gave us a tour which took the School Council behind the scenes of both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. We learnt how votes—also known as divisions, as we now know—are made when new laws are passed. We even had the chance to cast a 'no' vote on our very own proposed law: The Law of Homework!

After our tour, we had lunch in one of the committee rooms and held our own School Council meeting there, with our MP present.

It was such an incredible experience, and our School Council did themselves proud. Their behaviour was impeccable, and they even received compliments from members of the public during our train journey.

As School Council Lead, I want them to know how proud they made me—I thoroughly enjoyed accompanying them on this memorable trip.

Mrs Jones