This week the School Council visited the Palace of Westminster (the Houses of Parliament) and we had a fantastic time, as did all the adults who kindly came with us. We discovered that we, the School Council, are like mini Members of Parliament (MP’s) because they get elected just like we do and they also have to write a manifesto.

Once we had gone through a security check and got a special pass we walked the route that the queen takes for the State Opening of Parliament.  In the Queen’s Robing Room we saw Queen Victoria’s throne, beautiful paintings and we discovered there is a secret toilet in that room just for the Queen. The rooms are fantastic!  We also got to stand where Guy Fawkes laid his gun powder when he tried to blow up Parliament in 1605. In that room we saw King Henry and his many wives.

Next stop was the House of Lords -it is all red and this is where the Queen’s dazzling gold throne is!

We also got to see the House of Commons and can you imagine the Queen and her family cannot enter into this room? They have King Charles 1 to blame for this!

In the Commons, which is the green room, we were very lucky and got to touch the Prime Minister’s despatch box. We found it really funny that in the past the Speaker of the House could not leave the Commons until the debates had finished, so he would have to use the toilet in the room with a curtain surrounding him. All the MP’s would stamp their feet. Some of us were lucky to meet an MP as well.

We took pictures in the Great Hall and is where lots of famous people like Barrack Obama have spoken.

The last stop our fun workshop where we created a new bill; we had a Queen, the Speaker of the House and MP’s. We discussed and voted on if there should be homework or no homework for children. The vote to have homework won and it then went to the House of Lords to be discussed. After amending the bill several times it was finally passed and signed by Queen Eloise.  The new bill stated that we would keep homework and that children could do it at home or stay 1 hour longer at school to do it. The majority of us cheered that we had won!

All in all this trip has been very motivating and we are all going to try to fulfil our promises to the children that voted for us.

Chairperson (HC) & Vice Chair (JK)