We were thrilled to welcome the Earl of Sandwich to speak to the Middle and Upper School boys in this morning’s assembly about the role of the House of Lords in the executive, acting as a check and balance in the making of laws.
We were told about the Earl’s fascinating personal family history, how and why he took a place as a hereditary peer on the cross benches, his interest in overseas aid, how the House of Lords is modernising and, of course, the important role it plays in law making.
He also addressed many practical issues that the Lords has helped changed in recent years from ensuring children with special needs in academies have the same legal protection as in other schools, banning smoking in cars that carry children and insisting on parity of treatment for people in the NHS with physical and mental illness. This all brought home the relevance and importance of the House of Lords and its work.
The Earl of Sandwich’s presentation fitted perfectly into our British Values curriculum and this week’s school value and theme of ‘Justice’. He certainly gave the boys a unique personal insight into Parliament. The show of hands of boys who would like to be involved in politics in the future bodes well as a gauge of young people’s interest in the country’s future.
