Alan Brown, our local MP visited Stewarton Academy on Friday and met with our S4 modern studies pupils and our Rights Respecting School group. Ms. Hogg arranged this visit as part of her delivery of the Democracy in the UK unit to give pupils further insight into the role of an MP not just on a local level but also to understand how this interlinks nationally. Aside from this it is also UK Parliament week, so this really was a perfectly timed visit. Prior to the visit both the S4 pupils and the RRS group had prepared questions to pose to Mr. Brown as part of a Q&A session.

The S4 questions were focused on the day-to-day workings of parliament and the different jobs MP do. They were also very interested to hear that Mr. Brown had previously been a civil engineer and had then had a career change and decided to go into politics. They were also intrigued by the fact that as a back bencher Mr. Brown can hold the government to account.

The RRS group focused their questions on human rights and mental health issues. They were very interested in Mr. Browns role with regards to the environment and asked questions relating to the schools Clean Green Award and measures taken by parliament to reach net zero.

This was a fantastic opportunity for Stewarton Academy pupils to have their voices heard and further their knowledge of community issues. A huge thank you to Ms. Hogg for arranging.