By Eleanor P, Year 10 Journalist Lead

On the 18th March, the weather was probably the nicest it has been this year, which set up the day wonderfully for the academic scholars’ fascinating outing to the Houses of Parliament.

Scholars from Year 7 right through to Year 10 came on this trip, our first this year. Having made the journey to Westminster tube station (one of my personal favourites) we paused opposite the Palace of Westminster to have our lunches in the beautiful sunshine, the likes of which I hadn’t seen in a long time – and haven’t since! We then ventured through the airport-style security at the entrance to the education centre of Parliament, where we began our tour of the site. 

The tour took us first to Westminster Hall, the impressive Norman hall that is the oldest building at Parliament, and was the largest in Europe at the time of its construction. After that, we split up and continued to the Central Lobby, where many broadcasters were gathered to report on Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall’s cuts to benefits which had been announced earlier in the day. Next, to everyone’s excitement, came the House of Commons, where we got to watch some questions over these decisions. I had never been before, but for some reason found it a great  experience – I think actually watching democracy play out right there before you, seeing that all the politicians are just ordinary people, is very powerful.

After a brief encounter with a doorkeeper and his weighty gold badge, we headed back to the education centre for our snap election workshop. Our teams of 8 were tasked with coming up with a brand new party, developing three policies for it and delivering a speech on these, as well as creating a strong brand and slogan. My group, The Fuschia Party (with the unbelievably catchy tagline “The Future is Fuschia”) came home with the win, promising change to matters including access to sanitary products and school hours. We were also lucky enough to have a visit from NHEHS Old Girl and the school’s local MP Dr Rupa Huq, who came to speak to us about the work she does in her job and some affairs she is currently dealing with, as well as providing feedback on our speeches. 

The whole day was a brilliant experience to learn more about how politics works in the UK, which to be honest can otherwise seem a bit mystical, elitist and hard to understand. We heard from and saw lots of real people (including probably more women than men in the House of Commons!) conducting incredibly relevant politics – it was crazy to come home and see that the benefits cuts we had watched a debate about were front page news, but it just emphasises that the heart of UK politics is really just a tube ride away.