School News

Therfield School hosted a talk from a member of the House of Lords on Friday 25th November to encourage students to engage more with the political and parliamentary process.  Baroness Parminter of Godalming met with sixth form students and some year 11 students for an hour to talk about the work and role of the House of Lords. This was followed by a question and answer session on various aspects of the parliamentary process and life at Westminster generally.

David Ridsdale – Head of History and Politics at Therfield School said, “This was a fantastic opportunity for our students to interact with someone who knows the parliamentary system inside out, as it can sometimes seem far removed from their daily lives.”

Students commented on their experience; Helen Edwards studying AS Politics said “it was great to be able to ask someone questions who is actively involved in changing our lives and community” and Lewis Walker, who also studies AS Politics said “seeing and listening to someone who is very important in our political system has helped us to really understand what we are learning about and really make it seem real.”

Politics at Therfield has become a very popular subject at A-level over the last few years.The  excellent results,  such as100% of students achieving an A – C grade  in August 2011,  have led to  many students choosing to study Politics or International Relations at University.

The visit was arranged through the Lord Speaker’s “Peers in Schools” programme, which has been running across the UK since 2007 and has so far involved around 30,000 young people.  This continuing outreach programme sends members of the House of Lords into schools and colleges across the country to give talks in support of the citizenship curriculum.  For further information, see the Lord Speaker’s web page at www.parliament.uk/lordspeaker.