In anticipation of the General Election on Thursday 4th July, KSA ran its very own election on Wednesday 3rd July.
The importance of elections and their influence on democracy is best understood by going through the election process and while some of our Year 13 students will be voting for real today, students in Yr5-12 voted in an in-school election.
Five students from Yr12 A-Level Politics produced campaign videos representing the policies of the five main English parties in this year’s election. To help the students engage with the manifesto commitments rather than voting based on party name, the party names were changed. The KSA parties were:
- The Tree Party = The Conservative Party
- The Rose Party = The Labour Party
- The Bird Party = The Liberal Democrats
- The Globe Party = The Green Party
- The Arrow Party = Reform
Students learnt about how general elections translate into seats and the role of the MP for Westminster North. They then watched the candidate videos and read about the key party policies before completing their ballot paper.
The teachers also voted and were only allowed to see the party education manifestos and not the party names.
After a busy afternoon of counting by our Year 12 Returning Officers, the official results of the KSA election 2024 were:
So the winning party was The Green Party, with the Liberal Democrats a close second!
On General Election day, the students studied the KSA results and then reflected on some of the values that elections promote. Beyond their contribution to democracy, we thought about many of the countries that the students have connections to who do not have free and fair elections. We also discussed the importance of tolerance and our core value of ‘Work Together’: even when we lose, defeat is accepted and the winners and losers must stay connected to make sure society can work for everyone, just as happens in school.
Well done to all of our students for participating so well in Election 2024 and may some of you go on to be tomorrow’s politicians!