Classroom politics in Herefordshire
Six Herefordshire councillors will be taking democracy into the classroom during the next few weeks to show how relevant and important it is…even to youngsters.
Herefordshire Council is taking part in "I'm a councillor, get me out of here" - an event which will see the cross-party group of councillors make a number of visits to schools to meet and discuss politics with youngsters.
"This is a great opportunity to help youngsters understand what their local councillors do, how they could get involved, and make suggestions as to how their local communities could be improved," said Cllr John Stone, chairman of the council who is leading the group of councillors.
"Many people feel that politics is irrelevant - which is why so many don't bother turning out to vote when we hold elections.
"But the council provides more than 800 different services across all corners of the county and to people of all ages.
"It's by getting involved in local politics that you can really help to shape our communities and have a say on the kind of services the council provides," added Cllr Stone.
This is the first time Herefordshire councillors have participated in the local democracy event and the schools taking part have been sent teaching materials for groups to use when studying citizenship.
Teachers will be encouraging their young people to question councillors on various topics both when they have them in the classroom, and also via a specially created website http://www.bigvote.org.uk/ during the first week.
The councillors taking part - Cllrs Ursula Attfield, Patricia Morgan, Sally Robertson, John Stone, Alan Taylor and Julie Woodward - have already posted their manifestos on the website so the youngsters know what they stand for.
Following a week of visits to schools and a week of on-line question sessions, the pupils will then vote for the councillor who they feel will best represent their views - with one councillor being voted off each day until there's one councillor left standing.
"It's a bit nerve-wracking - none of us wants to be the first councillor voted off," added Cllr Stone, "but it's for a very good cause, and if we help some of youngsters understand better what councillors do, then we will have achieved our aim," he added.
