Biscuits and ballots for Dilton Marsh young voters

BEING too young to vote didn’t stop pupils at Dilton Marsh Primary School getting into the spirit of the general election this month, as they held a biscuit ballot, elected a new student leader, and had a visit from the victorious local MP,  Andrew Murrison.

On Thursday 7th May, a ‘biscuit’ election  was held to give the KS1 and EYFS children a real ‘hands on’ experience of the British electoral system. Biscuits were used in place of the political parties, and children’s manifestos, campaigns and canvassing were the talk of the school.

On Friday, all of the children taking part received the winning biscuit, whether or not it was their biscuit of choice; mirroring the actual political system in a slightly more palatable way!

An election was then held to decide upon the ‘year 5 student leader’ of beech class.

Teacher Emma Murray said, “Having worked tirelessly to develop as young leaders, both as aspirational role models and an inspiration to others, the pupils wrote their own manifestos and canvassed opinion, both in and around the school.

“On the day of the election, the polling station was officially opened by Mrs Finney, our headteacher, and then the station staff took over in their designated roles.  A constant stream of voters visited the beech class polling station throughout the day.

“The three front runners were very even and will now have private talks to discuss a possible coalition.”

Beech class was also visited by Andrew Murrison in the run-up to the election, when he told the pupils of his journey to Parliament and of his evolving career path from doctor to politician.

Emma Murray continued, “We were all very grateful to Dr Murrison for giving up his time, particularly when he was so busy with his own election campaign. Perhaps it was refreshing to take a break from Westminster politics and go back to his local constituency to talk with the voters of our future generation?! We certainly enjoyed it and learnt a lot!”