On Tuesday, 6 August 2019, I had the pleasure of escorting two of our Year 6 students to Parliament House in the city. Jaylanie Al Hadad and Rayan Elayoubi were prepared to take part in this year’s Parliamentary Convention. The topic for the convention was “Should athletes and other celebrities use their popularity to influence social and political issues?” Although both students were conflicted, they had come prepared with strong arguments both for and against.
During the first session of parliament, the students listened as delegates from 20 other Victorian schools presented their opening statements. These opening statements helped us all to develop a better understanding of the topic. We then listened to several keynote speakers such as Clementine Ford and Rayoni Nelson before enjoying cupcakes and orange juice for morning tea.
During the next session in Parliament, the delegates (students) divided into several different discussion groups. While in these groups Rayan and Jaylanie contributes their thoughts and ideas and worked with students from other schools to formulate their group opinion.
Finally, after lunch the delegates listened to the speakers from each group present their final views and opinions on the topic. During the Soap Box session, at the end of the day, both Rayan and Jaylanie had an opportunity to stand up and present their personal views on the topic. Although nervous both delegates spoke well and made me very proud to be one of their teachers. Rayan enjoyed speaking in public so much that she volunteered to give one of the four closing thank you speeches.
The final highlight for both ASC delegates (students) was the train ride back to school where we they were met by their family members.
A big thank you to both student delegates for being fantastic representatives of the College and agreeing to take part in this year’s Parliamentary Convention.