A Taste of Democracy…
As part of the Town Council’s Vision, we continue to visit our school children to profile the huge benefits of volunteering within communities. The project, which involves classroom based activites and hosting realistic elections, has been tremendous fun for everyone involved.
Great Marlow School – July 2018
As part of drop down day for year 7 children, Town Mayor, Cllr Chris Funnell and Deputy Clerk, Katherine Joy spent a couple of days at Great Marlow School, giving pupils an insight into the work of the Town Council.
“We spent a great couple of days with the students, who were really engaged and very switched on”, commented Chris. The sessions, devised by the Council, offer an insight into the work that goes on within the Marlow community, which is often unseen and undervaled.
“Our aim is to highlight the value of volunteering and encourage everyone in our community to be proactive to benefit themselves and others” said Katherine. The sessions concluded with a mock election for all lower school pupils who voted for their favourite cake – which for this school was caramel shortcake! Great Marlow teacher Stuart Ross said “Democracy Day was wonderful! I really appreciate the amount of time that was given to this project”.
Marlow C of E School – 12th September 2017
The Town Mayor, Cllr Jocelyn Towns, together with the Deputy Clerk, Katherine Joy, visited Dragonfly and Grasshopper classes to chat to the children about the work of the Town Council. Pupils aged between 6 and 7 enjoyed talking about the benefits of volunteering and learning about how the Town Council works in Marlow. “They were a very enthusiastic group of children who, even at a tender age, demonstrated an understanding of being part of a wider community” commented the Town Mayor.
We are always keen to receive feedback from our residents, no matter how young. We asked the children what they liked best about Marlow and if they could change one thing, what would that be. Their responses were very varied and several made us chuckle. Our favourites were turning Marlow bridge into a shark catching device, having a pet playground, an experiment club and one child wanting “an ice cream van where ever I go” Marvellous !!
St Peter’s School – 9th June 2017
Marlow Town’s Council’s campaign to raise awareness in schools of democracy and the voting process continued with a timely election at St Peter’s Catholic Primary School – on the same day as the country went to the polls on June 9th.
Children in Year 6 had been campaigning hard for their favourite cake from a delicious selection in the lead-up to the election. Mayor Jocelyn Towns and Deputy Town Clerk Katherine Joy, who devised and ran the election, visited the school to see pupils and teachers vote.
The winning cake was a blueberry muffin – which was presented to everyone in the school by the Mayor on Monday, 19th June.
As part of the Town Council’s Vision to engage with the town’s younger residents the children were asked for their feedback. “With this campaign we want to make sure that children understand democracy and to help engage them in the process for the future,” Mayor Jocelyn Towns said.
Spinfield School – 19th May 2016
The Town Council kicked off its “Taste of Democracy” project with a visit to Spinfield School on Thursday 19th May.
The Town Mayor, Cllr Bob Johnson and Deputy Clerk, Katherine Joy, had great fun talking to Year 5 pupils about the work of the Town Council.
The project aims to raise awareness of democracy and the voting process among the young people of Marlow. “The children were so well informed about how our country is run – I was very impressed,” the Town Mayor said.
As part of the Town Council’s Vision to engage with the town’s younger residents the children were asked for their feedback. The Town Mayor promised to share all their ideas with his fellow Councillors and to post a selection of their comments on the Council’s website. Click the link above to view them all—the ones that made us smile the most are featured below.
Katherine commented: “The children were very socially aware and had a great level of understanding about how communities function, demonstrating an awareness beyond their years. It was a pleasure meeting them.”
All the children were presented with a button badge as a thank you from the Town Mayor.
This visit starts a summer-long project run by the Town Council. “We want to listen to all our residents, young and old. Meeting our younger Marlovians at school and offering a glimpse of what we do in exchange for hearing their views is hugely beneficial – they are the voters of the future,” commented the Town Mayor.
Mock Elections
The Council has held its first “Mock Elections” at Spinfield School and Dansefield School. Children at Spinfield took part in the great “Cake Debate” and voted for their favourite bake, whilst those at Danesfield School voted on a real life issue – The EU Referedum.
Pupils were given a taster of what a real election involves, including campaigning, voting in a real polling booth, designing election posters, filling in ballot papers and counting the votes.
