Tessa Munt MP Attends Student Leadership Conference

The Academy's student leadership conference brought together students from the House Councils, Eco schools and Subject Ambassadors for a day of reflection, collaboration and inspiration, with the morning focused on building skills and the afternoon on hearing from a leader in public life. 

The day began with Mr Hildrew formally launching the conference and speaking to students about what leadership means. 

Students then took part in a series of team building activities designed to develop communication, trust and problem-solving. These activities gave students the chance to see how effective teams depend on a range of strengths, and to practise leading as well as following.

The morning continued with a creative group task, in which teams combined their ideas to produce a joint piece of work. This required planning, negotiation and compromise, and it was pleasing to see so many students taking the initiative, encouraging and celebrating each other's contributions. The finished results showed real imagination and a strong sense of teamwork.

In the afternoon, students were joined by our local MP, Tessa Munt, who spoke about leadership and her experiences of being a Member of Parliament. She gave students an insight into the responsibilities of representing the community, the challenges of making decisions that affect others, and the importance of listening to the people you serve. Students had the opportunity to ask questions, and their thoughtful, confident contributions reflected the ideas they had explored throughout the day.

Tessa Munt also held a student youth surgery with Miss Hockin at lunchtime and it was very well attended.  Students wanted to talk about the issues with bus timetables, roadworks affecting their punctuality and where they can attend Sixth Form, alongside the issues in the environment.  Also discussed were the opportunities for local people to get jobs and more opportunities to study different subjects in line with the new announcement.  

The room is always buzzing with enthusiasm when Tessa comes to visit and hopefully we'll be able to offer another trip to Parliament for those interested during this academic year. 

Getting involved in youth politics is available to all so please speak with Miss Hockin, Leader of Learning for History and Politics, or Ms North, Student Leadership Coordinator, if you are interested.