16 local student leaders drew inspiration from Westminster last Wednesday before helping draw up a slice of education policy for their own Academies.
Following a tour of the Houses of Parliament, bumping into Lord Alan Sugar in the lobby and watching the leader of the House of Commons take his seat, students from Oasis Academy Enfield and Oasis Academy Hadley met with 9 other Oasis Academies to contribute to a document that will set the agenda for how their Academies are shaped in the future.
The Oasis Student Leaders inaugural National Conference has been introduced to encourage leadership in young people by showing them that their own passions, concerns and convictions can be harnessed into a document that will shape theirs and their peers’ futures.
The students, also met their local MP at Westminster Central Hall after being led round the Houses of Parliament on tours provided for them by their host, Joan Ryan, Labour MP for Enfield North.
Joan Ryan said, “I applaud the vision of Oasis Community Learning in seeing the value of bringing together representatives from each of their Academies and giving them the chance to have their say. Ever since I became a Member of Parliament, I have been amazed by the numbers of people who want to get involved in their community and affect the decisions that impact on their lives – and that includes young people. Oasis Community Learning recognise this and their National Conference is a fantastic opportunity for young people from around the country, including in my constituency in Enfield, to have their say on a wide range of issues. I’m delighted to be able to support the conference and I pay tribute to Oasis Community Learning for putting together this exciting day.”
One student commented, “The Houses of Parliament really do have the X factor. It made us realise what heritage we have and how we can aspire to greater things for ourselves. We have the potential to have the butterfly impact and we will aim to bring change for the benefit of everyone in and around our Academy.”
CEO and Founder of Oasis Community Learning, Steve Chalke MBE, said, “We believe that our students have something very positive to contribute to the Oasis ethos, its outworking and its learning goals. To that end, we wanted to bring together delegates from each of our Academies to sit down and discuss, as a national student body, what matters to them, and on which areas of education they want to input. Gathering together like this will empower our students to bring their opinions to bear on a whole range of issues, from local to national. We are really excited about the introduction of this significant conference and who knows, in the future, some of our MPs may come from this body.”
Utilising feedback from the Oasis Student Leaders at the conference, Oasis Community Learning hope to publish the finalised Education document in early 2010.
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