General Election 2017 - Is it just a popularity contest?

This term, in Year 4/5/6, we will be taking on a special topic looking at the forthcoming General Election.

We will be learning about:

·         the history of voting, women’s right to vote, and democracy in this country

·         the process of elections

·         who the political parties and leaders are

·         what our local constituency is

·         why elections are held

This topic will allow us to use skills such as historical skills as we look at previous voting trends for our constituency; geographical skills by looking at constituency maps, data by looking at voting figures and statistics. We will also be developing our understanding of using formal language and ICT skills by contacting local candidates to find out what their views are on issues important to the class.

To start off, the class were shown pictures of the leaders of the 6 main parties who could be standing in our area. The photos were of the leaders smiling in posed photos. The pupils were not told who they were or which party they were standing for. They were asked to decide who they would pick based on their gut reaction of how the picture of these leaders faces made them feel.

The results were:

1. Leanne Wood - Plaid Cymru - 30%

2. Jeremy Corbyn - Labour - 20%

-  Theresa May - Conservatives - 20%

4. Tim Farron - Liberal Democrats - 16%

5. Caroline Lucas - Green - 7%

-   Paul Nuttall - UKIP - 7%

We will conduct further opinion polls throughout the campaign based on various issues that we cover.