Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois, visited Wyburns Primary School in Rayleigh recently to present newly elected members of the School Council with certificates and their badges of office.
As part of their citizenship education, the pupils at the school elect two representatives from each class to serve on the School Council, which then discusses issues relating to the running of the school with the Headteacher, Mr Dale Watson and other teachers. As well as allowing the views of the pupils to be represented, this method also introduces the young people to the concept of democracy and of electing people to represent their views.
The elections for the academic year 2012/13 took place in September, shortly after the beginning of the new school year and Mark was invited by Mr Watson to come to the school and to hand out the School Councillor badges, which the newly elected reps from each class are entitled to wear.
Commenting on the occasion, Mark Francois said:
“It was a real pleasure to visit Wyburns School and to give these young people their official School Council badges – with many of their parents looking on. When I spoke to the School Councillors in Assembly, I warned them that they would never be able to please everybody all of the time but, nevertheless, having been given this responsibility, they should do their best to represent their fellow pupils who had elected them and to try and help them with any problems that they might have.
I wish all of these School Councillors all the best for the future and, who knows, perhaps one of these people will turn out to be a future MP.”