PRIMARY school children “played Parliament” for a day with a real MP.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood visited children at Rush Common School, Abingdon, to help teach them about the Parliamentary process.

The pupils learnt about the roles of Members of Parliament and discussed the importance of democracy on Friday.

Then they debated the motions “Should bullying be made illegal?” and “Should literacy and maths be abolished?” using formal debating rules and language used in Parliament.

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Acting headteacher Laura Brown said: “I was extremely proud to witness our children articulating their opinions confidently as well as listening to and questioning each other with great maturity about thought-provoking themes.

“The event has helped enormously in enabling the children to appreciate the significance of our democratic parliamentary system, as well as the importance of respect and tolerance in our world today.

“The school currently runs a popular debating club and following the success of Parliament Day, we will continue to establish further opportunities such as this into our curriculum.”

The youngest children in the school, aged four, built a model of the Houses of Parliament.

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