Cranleigh Makes Regional Final of BBC Schools’ Question Time

Top 45 in the Country and Top 3 in the Region

The School’s Knoller Society (history and politics) has made it through to the regional final of the annual BBC Schools’ Question Time Competition. The BBC run a competition every year to find a school to produce a young person’s version of the popular BBC show. The first stage requires schools to submit a proposal outlining what topics they would like to discuss and who they would have on their ‘dream panel’ – the more realistic the panel the better. For example, it would be unlikely to get all three leaders of the main parties on the same show. Emily Coleridge, Alex Curtis, Lulu Golden, Hugo Moxey and Peter Thompson got to work and came up with a very interesting panel to talk about issues such as David Cameron’s Big Society, Defence Budget Cuts, the London Olympic Legacy and the up-and-coming AV Referendum. After plenty of research they plumped for Lord Mandelson (Lab), Liam Fox MP (Con), Susan Kramer (LD), Dame Kelly Holmes (athlete), and Campbell Robb (Director of the charity ‘Shelter’).

We significantly impressed the judges with our choices and reasoning and were rewarded with a place in the regional final. We now have a tight deadline (less than two weeks) to submit a five-minute video debate of our pupils debating one of our chosen issues. Regular readers of the website, please come back here in the next couple of weeks to view our entry.

For more information visit:

http://www.schoolsquestiontime.org/get-involved/get-involved-news/item/104-regional-finalists-announced

FTH

Conservatives hold Cranleigh School

Cranleigh School General Election 2010

Six candidates from all over the political spectrum were vying for votes in the Cranleigh School Mock General Election. After a hustings session on Monday and an intense poster campaign and sticker war, voters got to cast their ballots on Thursday lunchtime in the Dining Hall. Geography trippers and Hockey tourists were not excluded as a mixture of ‘postal’ voting and proxy voting was allowed.
The buzz in the School could clearly be felt and the whole process was made more real by the fact the all the election kit (ballot boxes, posters and polling booths) was genuine local government equipment, kindly lent to us for the week.

After sealing the final ballot box at 2.00pm and locking them in my classroom, the candidates had an agonising five-hour wait until we could deliver the people’s verdict.

At 7.00pm, then, in the ALT, a group of ‘jolly counters’ began the very exciting task of finding out what the people had said. The count took about an hour, but it was clear from the off that Henry Wilson was going to take the crown and the Conservatives would romp home to victory (no surprises in Surrey then!). The question was whether he could replicate the 47% achieved by the Cranleigh Conservative Candidate back in 1997? The answer: not quite.

After all the votes were in, the results were then read out by Frank Hardee, politics teacher-come returning officer:

Wilson (Conservative) 42%
Young (Liberal Democrat) 20%
Agnew-Davies (Monster Raving Loony Party) 15%
Roberts (Green) 9%
Graham-Wood (Labour) 8%
Sanderson (United Kingdom Independence Party) 4%

So, a good reasonably good night for the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, but the UKIP candidate did not even get his deposit back.

Congratulations to Henry Wilson and to all the candidates for a fair and honest fight. Also, thanks to everyone, Common Room and pupils, who helped with the process.

FTH