Mr Speaker Speaks to Sixth Form College Students

Mr Speaker Speaks to Sixth Form
College Students
Last week the Sixth Form College received a well-known visitor.
The Rt Hon John Bercow MP, the Speaker of the House of Commons delivered a short
talk to students –and many staff—on Friday afternoon. Mr Bercow’s talk was followed
by a Q and A session at which many of our students put forward their questions, which
weren’t always easy to answer.
There was a strong atmosphere of
excitement and expectation before
Mr Bercow’s arrival at the College.
The turn out was fantastic, the
Atrium was full and the crowd were
poised with their questions ready.
Bryan Cantor
“Do you think Parliament needs to modernise in order to attract
younger voters.”
“This activity was good for students as it gave them the opportunity to engage with politics in a way that they might otherwise have not.”
After the talk had finished, ‘Mr Speaker’ conducted a short question and
answer forum.
The students relished the opportunity to discover more about the role of Speaker
and Mr Bercow’s own views on current political issues. The breadth of questions
asked by the student voice were broad in topic and can be seen in the understated
speech bubbles within this
article.
Conor Waltall
“Do you ever find it difficult
to remain neutral in
debates and are there any
debates you wish you
could get involved in?”
Once he took to the rostrum Mr
Bercow captured our students’
attention, giving an interesting
and informative talk about the
nature of his role as Speaker.
As Anna Humphreys a
Government & Politics student—and our Female Student
Governor commented,
The activity organiser Natalie
Allen said, “It was a fantastic event for
the College and an opportunity for students on all courses, but
especially Law and Politics students, to
hear from a key figure in this country's
government. Mr Speaker was thrilled
with the amount of students turning up
for the talk and dealt with some informative and tough questioning from
students. He has since commented on
how friendly everybody was in
Stoke-on-Trent and hopes to return
soon."
James Siegertsz Who was your inspiration in becoming speaker?
This activity was a great opportunity for students to experience first hand the working
world of politics. Meeting the Speaker brought the Government and
Politics curriculum to life, and encouraged the wider student population to engage with
politics. We are thrilled that Mr Bercow visited the College and look forward to hosting
similarly high profile visitors in the future.