Today was officially polling day at St Matthias. It presented a real opportunity for students to exercise their democratic right to vote in the Wolverhampton Youth MP Elections. We set up a polling station with the support of Local Authority representatives Andrew, Anton and Shaq. Our year 11 leadership team then managed the vote by visiting each class in school, explaining the voting procedures and then escorting them to make their mark. The day went like clockwork, students thoroughly engaged with and enjoyed the experience.
Polling day provided an opportunity for Harleen and Wiktoria, currently serving on the Wolverhampton Youth Council and the Wolverhampton Youth Engagement Strategy Board, to speak with students about their roles and give guidance about how they too could sign up and take part should they choose to. It was also a fantastic way for our whole school to get behind William Gosnell who has made the decision to stand as one of this years candidates.
Student comments:
“My role today has been to organise the polling station. Although it has been a stressful morning it has been totally worth it; getting involved with democracy has helped me to learn and understand the process.” Amarachi Anosike
“My role today has been to organise the students and assist them in the democratic process, I have done this by going to their classrooms and explaining the process to them. This has been a great experience as I have learnt how democracy is conducted.” Palamdeep
“It has been amazing today to get involved and support our own candidate William Gosnell. It’s been a great experience!” Chloe Pain
“Today my role has been great. I was helping students to vote by explaining what they had to do. I think voting is important because you get the perspective of everyone in school, we all got to have a say.” Atul
“It is important to vote because people choose their leader who might make a change later if they get elected.” Kelvin