PUPILS at Holy Cross Primary School were given a lesson in British politics on Wednesday, as they held their own mini debate.

Children in Years 4, 5 and 6 at the school on the Upham Road site all took part in an assembly to learn about the Houses of Parliament, the difference between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, how the debates work and how laws are passed.

The youngsters then took part in a variety of activities in classes where they learnt more about Britain and how the political system has changed and developed.

Assistant headteacher Karen Salter said: “Children in Year 6 learnt more about the history of British politics, such as the Magna Carta.

“They also had a debate about whether the voting age should be lowered to 16 and their point was the decisions being made now will affect them when they become adults so they should have a say.

“The main negative was perhaps 16 is not old enough to know about the world.

“Year 5 had a workshop that was about how they can make change in our country.

“It’s the first time we have done anything like this in the school because we had Parliament Outreach visit us to try to explain to the pupils about politics."

“We have a school council in our school that meet regularly and they are going to consider how they can afford change in the school.

“We are always looking to promote the work we do.”