Four pupils from Bishop Challoner School in Tower Hamlets had lunch at 10 Downing Street and the chance to quiz top civil servants questions about government policy. The pupils won a competition at the launch of employee volunteering in schools programme Inspiring the Future. The challenge was to come up with the best policy questions for professionals working in the field ‘you aspire to work in post-school’.
The Year 11 pupils Emmanual Falola, Ellen Frankin-Charles, Ngozi Obaze and Kean Phillip asked questions as diverse as bank lending to SMEs, sentencing for drugs offenses, whether the UK should stay in the EU and investment in solar power.
School pupil, Ellen Franklin-Charles, who wants to be a Probation Officer, asked a Ministry of Justice official questions about comparative length of prison sentences. Afterwards the official said this was “a great opportunity to inspire young people for their future careers and the pupils’ enthusiasm was infectious”.
Photograph from the 10 Downing Street visit