Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford visited Mary Immaculate High School in Wenvoe this week to promote the importance of pupils having a voice that is heard. As the local assembly member in Cardiff West, the school serves hundreds of pupils in his constituency.
In a time of uncertainty, the First Minister will be visiting the Cardiff School to promote the importance of democracy and everyone having a voice. The aim of this visit is to prepare young people for politics and to spark an interest in having an opinion on important and topical issues.
Mary Immaculate place great value on listening to their pupils and want their students to voice their opinions on what matters to them. The school have a School Parliament who attend and promote events and initiatives such as Your Voice Voting which highlights issues that need to be debated in Youth Parliament Wales, visits to the Senedd where students are trained on how to be a Parliament member and the Cardiff Commitment initiative at City Hall.
One pupil at the school comments how; “Having our school take an interest in our thoughts and opinions really encourages us to talk about important issues and teaches us how to make our voices heard in a mature way. Being given the opportunity to visit the Senedd and be part of initiatives inside and outside of school is fun and makes us feel prepared for when we leave school.”
Mr Davies, Assistant Headteacher, mirrors the student’s opinions: “It is fantastic to see our students take such an interest in debate and democracy. We want them to have a strong voice that is heard, we value their opinions greatly. Having the First Minister come in to our school is a brilliant opportunity and we are very grateful that he has taken the time to discuss such important matters with our students.”
Mark Drakeford, First Minister, said: “The voice of young people in Wales is such an important issue and it is crucial that we encourage them to take an interest in political issues and democracy. I am very happy I was able to visit Mary Immaculate High School to meet the students and discuss with them the importance of their views and opinions and how to voice them and make them count.”
