Date Posted: 28/03/2024Current News
Category / School News Posted on: 15/11/2022
Year 8's at Kingshott enjoy a week of engaging PSHCE activities
Year 7 and 8 pupils at Kingshott School have enjoyed a week of engaging PSHCE activities, alongside all of their normal lessons. They have learnt about voting, the power and pitfalls of social media, and developed their understanding of the cost of fast fashion.
First they part in an inspirational workshop on the 'Power and Pitfalls of Social Media' as part of a global Youth Summit linked to COP27. The speaker, Emma Greenwood, is an 18-year-old youth voice and climate activist from Manchester who has held the position of Young Member of Parliament for Bury (from 2019 to 2022) and co-founded the Manchester branch of the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement in 2019. Pupils found her to be incredibly engaging and were interested to learn about the new social media platform she is working with (Curv) which aims to support movements and turn social media into a tool to support social progress.
"We try to provide a variety of different opportunities for our oldest pupils in Years 7 & 8 to hear from inspiring speakers," says Kingshott's Head of Year 7 & 8, Mrs Katie Yates. "This workshop was particularly inspiring as Emma has achieved so much already and is very relatable. We are looking forward to the follow-up sessions which will see Kingshott pupils explore digital resilience, and how social media can be used as a force of good."
Then, our Year 8 pupils enjoyed a visit from four members of North Hertfordshire Council who discussed how the pupils can engage in local decision making about their communities. They also held a mock ballot on the issue of lowering the voting age to 16. Surprisingly the majority of the pupils voted against this motion stating that at 16 they would not feel politically mature enough to have the responsibility of the vote. There was also a discussion of the role of social media in politics and this raised some interesting questions. Our thanks go to Cllr Judi Billing, Cllr Val Bryant, Cllr Ian Albert and Community Engagement team member Danny Pearson, for making the session so engaging.
Finally, Year 8 pupils led a fascinating assembly on the cost of fast fashion. As well as providing a range of insightful facts to the audience of pupils, staff and parents, they also dazzled everyone with an anti-fast fashion show!
