Primary school children visit parliament

The children from Year 5 classes at Coleham Primary School were the guests of Shrewsbury MP Julia Buckley who said the youngsters were “an absolute delight, and bursting with questions for me”.

She said: “For instance, they wanted to know what ‘bobbing’ is. Bobbing is the traditional way in which we MPs get the attention of the Speaker in the House of Commons whenever we wish to speak. It’s standing up to get attention, so it’s bobbing up and down. The children thought that was funny, and I suppose it is.”

The Coleham pupils were also interested in the Division Bell.

When this rings, MPs are required to go and vote. 

Mrs Buckley added: “And – would you believe it – just as we were discussing this, the Division Bell rang and so I had to dash off to vote as I only had eight minutes to get there, and the kids all cheered at the excitement of my sudden exit.”

Teacher Charlotte Lewis said: “The children had a wonderful time, and we were all greatly impressed by the quality of their questions. They asked about the role of an MP, how you became an MP in the first place. There were also questions about other issues such as transport.”

The visit came about after the children wrote letters to Mrs Buckley at the end of the summer term regarding their concerns over river pollution. 

Miss Lewis – one of six teachers accompanying the pupils to Westminster – said: “The children had written these very persuasive and well-written letters, and then we received a reply saying river pollution was at the top of Mrs Buckley’s priority list and that she was determined to take action on this issue.”

The MP’s reply also included an invitation to the children to visit Parliament.

Miss Lewis said: “This sounded like a great experience for the children, and so it turned out to be. They were thrilled.”