On Tuesday 20th February, the Lower Sixth Politics class at MPW London travelled to Westminster to visit the Houses of Parliament.

We visited some of the iconic spots of Westminster like Westminster Hall where we learned about the Palace’s construction and the many events that took place to create the current building. For example, the Great Fire that destroyed parts of the palace leading to a rebuild. Also, the New Gothic Vision that came to life adding elements of Victorian England. We also visited the Central Hall of the Palace allowing us to learn more history and understand that ‘green’ means the House of Commons and ‘red’ means the House of Lords.

When in the Hall, we stood right in the middle allowing us to fully take in the architecture and to acknowledge the history that surrounded us. We then made our way to the House of Commons. Once there, we were able to sit up in the visitors’ gallery and watch proceedings that were occurring. MPs were contributing to a debate on the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill. This is a controversial Bill as many MPs, including some Conservatives, argue that it will not cut household energy costs or create jobs and instead will break the UK’s promise to phase out fossil fuels. I thought that it was very interesting and fascinating to see exactly where the Prime Minister meets MPs and to see where debating over bills occurs.

Unfortunately, the House of Lords was not sitting so we then made our way back to the Education Centre where we had a mini lesson. Here we got to learn more information about the government and Parliament as well as applying this information in role play learning. As well as partaking in a debate about the use of capital punishment, we also got to speak to and question a staff member, the local MP, Felicity Buchan.

We were then on our way home from a highly educational and entertaining day. My favourite part of the day was being able to see the proceedings of the Commons as I was able to understand and apply knowledge we had previously learned in school.