Bexhill and Battle MP, Huw Merriman, joined the Citizenship GCSE students at Robertsbridge Community College last Friday to share ideas and his experience of successful campaigning.

The students, who work on the Citizenship GCSE in their own time after school, have been working on creating campaigns as part of their course. They have chosen issues that they feel strongly about such as Votes for 16 year olds, recycling, free transport for 16-18 years, conservation and the environment.  They all presented their ideas to Huw and explained why these issues were important to them.

Huw said “I was really impressed with the level of research and attention to detail that these students have already put into creating their campaigns.  It was an absolute pleasure to discuss the campaigns and share views and ideas with all of the students as well as answer some challenging questions!

“The fact that they have chosen to do this in their own time, shows a real interest in local and national issues and a desire to make a difference.  It is great that their teachers, Mr Filsell and Miss Bower have given them this great opportunity to study Citizenship GCSE outside of the normal curriculum. The skills they will gain from this course will be invaluable to them whatever path they chose in life.”

Miss Bower said “Students were thrilled to have the opportunity to share their campaign ideas with Huw and really enjoyed the morning spent discussing issues that are important to them.  We run Citizenship as part of extra-curricular study as we wanted to ensure students leave school with a good understanding of law, politics and their role in society. We believe there is a real lack of political knowledge in the education system which desperately needs plugging if today’s students are to become tomorrow’s voters.”