In June, four pupils from St Philip Howard Catholic High School in Barnham, West Sussex, were invited by ActionAid to Parliament and the Department for Education.
Georgia, Jack, Katherine and Morgan were met by John McLaverty at Oxfam HQ, where there were several students and teachers from all around the country. Students were encouraged to mingle and discuss views on how to proceed with the Send my Friend to School campaign.
Georgia Dearnley, from Year 9, said: “My partner and I talked about how, although children definitely need to have access to education, adults who haven’t been to school should also have the right to education.”
When pupils met Nick Gibb, MP for Bognor and Littlehampton and Minister of State for Education, at the Department for Education, they talked about giving aid to developing countries to spend on their education system. Morgan suggested that charities, businesses and government should work together to help find a remedy.
At the Houses of Parliament, pupils met paralympic medallist and campaigner Ade Adepitan and the Send my Friend ambassadors, who spoke about how they are supporting the cause. They were joined by their local MP Nick Herbert, who listened to speeches and discussed the campaign with them. He then gave them a guided tour of Parliament.
Georgia said: “This was truly an amazing day and has really given me the extraordinary experience of how a fourteen year old girl can help to change the lives of children who are not as fortunate as I am.”