Child Parliament 2015

www.childreach.org.uk
Registered charity no. 1132203

Childreach International
Childreach International works in partnership with local communities in Bangladesh,
India, Nepal, Tanzania and the UK, unlocking the potential of some of the worlds most marginalised children helping them to secure their most basic rights. By breaking down the
barriers preventing them from living as children should, we provide thousands of
children every year with the chance to transform their lives. We focus on improving
childrens access to education, healthcare and child protection, restoring childrens rights
and empowering children to create
positive change through
community
based solutions.

My School My Voice
My School My Voice (MSMV) is a UK programme that creates a safe space for children to
learn and talk about their rights and teaches skills to research social issues. Throughout
these workshops, Childreach International has collaborated with schools, focusing on the
right to participate in decisions that a0ect me and the right to protection from abuse.
Together, we investigated issues that can a0ect children in the UK; not feeling safe online,
being discriminated against, feeling like their family has a lot less money than other
peoples families and not feeling safe at home.

The objective of the Child Parliament 2015 is to empower children to

fully participate in decision making in their schools.
This year, 167 children from eight UK schools thought about and voted on the
issue that they felt most a0ected them or children they know. The process of the Child
Parliament allowed children to share these issues, and motivated them to suggest
solutions and engage with decision makers in their school and local community. It also
empowered them to ask direct questions to decision makers present.
The Child Parliament 2015 ran in one UK school, and was attended by the schools
pupils aged eight to eleven. The 12 member of the School Council investigated possible
solutions to issues and voted for: not feeling safe online and feeling like my family has a
lot less money than other peoples families as being the biggest concerns. These were
presented during the parliament.

The Panel

(from left to right)

Alan Brown (Head Teacher),

Sal Jarvis (Dean of the School of Education, University of Hertfordshire),
Cllr Dr Linda Radford (The Worshipful The Mayor of Hertford),
Ben Pirt (School Governor)
Amy Smith (School Governor)

Solutions identi ed for online

safety:

Some agreed theyd like more spaces to play in

their community.

We have really enjoyed participating in

decisions that a$ect our lives at school this

Make sure your password isnt easy to year. Is there anything that we could do with
the governors to help to make decisions
guess
with you as well?

Dont talk to strangers

Amy
Smith
spoke about how its

Tell your parents, carers or teachers if

important to make sure that children know
you are worried about being safe online
how to get in touch with them. We have a
Solutions identi ed for feeling governors email address that you can use and
can let you know when our meetings are so
like my family has a lot less we
we can add things that you want us to talk
money than others:
about or that are important to you to our
agenda.

Life has its ups and downs

Never share your password

You can be rich in di0erent ways

Ben Pirt added I want to know when the

School Council meetings are because it means
To try and think about why you might feel that if there are things that we want your
like this
opinion on, we could come along or send
It doesnt matter how much money you questions.
have when you are at school
What can we do to make sure that all adults
know about childrens rights and why they
are important?

Questions raised to the panel

included:
We are really interested to learn more
about our local MP. Could you tell us more
about how the local MP a$ects our lives and
our school? Is there anything that we could
do next year to contact our local MP
directly?
Alan Brown explained who a local MP was
and who their local MP is (Mark Prisk). He then
asked What would you like to contact your
local MP about?
Children in the audience replied:
About P.E at school and doing more of it
3

Sal Jarvis talked about how she teaches

teachers about childrens rights and
childrens participation.
She said After
hearing you talk about it, and hearing your
question, I like how you have used the word
we. I think we need to remember that if you
know all about your rights, then if you see
children or adults that dont know about them,
you need to take on the job of telling them
about their rights. I would like to invite the
School Council to help me spread this message
with teachers I teach by recording a message
or coming to visit so they can spread the
message.

to spread the word. Whats good about being

here today is that now I know about the
programme (My School My Voice) so I can
spread the word about it. I think I can help
your work my spreading the word of childrens
rights. Also, now you all know that if you
would like to get in touch with me, or would
The Worshipful the Mayor of Hertford, Cllr like me to visit, you can get in touch with my
Dr Linda Radford explained how she secretary and if I can help you, I will!
became Mayor I visit as many organisations as
possible to learn from them. I visit and speak
to people and children, visit projects and help
We know childrens rights are really
important. We found that other children
that we know dont know very much about
their rights. Is there anything that you can
do as Mayor to increase all childrens
understanding of their rights?

Whats next?
All of the questions and responses raised during the parliament will be shared with the school,
as will all of the results from the research that children at the school took part in. The
parliament raised awareness of the issues discussed and reFected on potential change for the
future. The panel were extremely positive in their feedback, and the School Council will work
together with the rest of the decision makers in their school and community to
implement these changes.
Children who have participated in the My School My Voice child clubs this year have become
young leaders within their schools, spreading their messages more widely to their peers
after each workshop and later on a larger scale during their child parliament. In future years,
these children will help to train and develop other childrens knowledge of their rights and
become peer mentors.
In the future, the My School My Voice programme aims to facilitate child led research across
some of the most deprived areas of London. This will enable children themselves to inform
policy and practice through campaigns and training, collaborating with school management,
Members of Parliament and the Childrens Commissioners oGce, ensuring childrens voices are
heard at the highest levels.
We are hoping to build on the success of this Child Parliament, making this an annual event
bringing together children from across London.

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