Cllr Jenny Holmes of Upperthong Ward gives her account of a recent visit to Upperthong School:
I had an enjoyable afternoon at Upperthong JI&N School working with Year 5 children as part of their Enrichment Week. As a school governor, I’d been asked to do an art project. But I’ve been concerned for a long time that children have very little political education, and many young people are unaware of what the Parish Council does. This was an opportunity to have a fun, interactive afternoon whilst communicating with young people about the role of local government — absolutely no party politics!
We started by thinking about what is important in our community: people, events, and places. All the children then drew a place that they thought was important and placed their pictures on a map of the area. Cricket pitches were the most popular! The variety of their artwork was fantastic — some were beautifully detailed, others had a bold, quick energy. All had an individual style that contributed to a wonderful collage.
Whilst they were drawing, they were asked to think about who had paid for that place and who was responsible for looking after it. This led to much discussion about private and government funding. Mostly it focused on people working together — people who are paid, or who volunteer their time, or who are elected. And they, as young people, have a role to play.
I’d worked with Michelle Ross from the Kirklees’s Democracy Friendly Schools programme to produce a set of slides that explained the layers of government, and we showed pictures of what the Parish Council and Kirklees Council are locally responsible for. This encourages students of all ages to become active citizens committed to shaping strong communities. The children loved recognising places and events that they knew. They asked lots of interesting questions and shared some great ideas. We hope that all schools in the Holme Valley will become democracy-friendly.