It has been a brilliant day for the Hull & Freetown schools involved in Global Partnerships. The Hull and Freetown International Pupil Councils, which began twelve years ago were both back in session today. This morning, the Freetown IPC met with Francis Mason. This afternoon, at Priory Primary School in Hull, 49 students from 19 primary & secondary schools met. We were joined by a truly Very Important Person. Spot on time at 2pm, Lisa Chesney, the High Commissioner for Sierra Leone, joined us remotely from Freetown. Lisa told us about some of the many important roles she is involved in. These included many areas which link to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Prior to Lisa joining our conference, the Hull pupils were sharing what they have been doing towards the SDGs. Lisa is passionate about her work and was willing to answer some challenging and intelligent questions from our Hull IPC representatives. These ranged from the SGD1 'No Poverty' to SDG5 'Gender Equality' and SDG13 'Climate Action'. The High Commissioner complemented the students on their passion for global issues and their questions and ideas.
We spoke about the importance, not only of children and young people having a voice, but also a sense of Pupil/Student Agency. In the Thrive Trust and other trusts across the city, we are developing a greater awareness of this 'Agency' with young people not only having a say but driving their learning agendas.
Our most profound thanks go to Lisa Chesney and her team for making today possible as well as the wonderful staff at Priory for hosting our event. Lisa certainly deserved the huge round of applause she received at the end of the meeting. We extended our invitation for her to join us in person, when she is back in the UK.
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