Carrickfergus school chosen to join with House of Lords in climate change battle

The House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Select Committee invited schools to bid to join a one-year pilot programme to let young people express their views about its work.

Pupils from six schools from across Britain will join forces with peers scrutinising government policies on the environment.

Sandra Patterson, head of Geography at the Carrickfergus school, said: “Ulidia Integrated College Geography Department are delighted to have been selected to take part in this exciting programme of youth engagement.

“Our learners will have a valuable opportunity to engage in political processes which will help them gain both insight into political procedures and valuable transferable skills. We look forward to beginning the pilot programme this month.”

The six schools in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, selected from more than 100 which applied to take part, are:

Birkenhead Sixth Form College, Wirral;

Stockton Riverside College, Stockton-On-Tees;

Grove Academy, Dundee;

Ysgol Cwm Brombil, Port Talbot;

Ulidia Integrated College, Carrickfergus;

St Catherine’s College, Eastbourne.

Committee chair Baroness Parminter plans to visit each of the schools when possible.

Pupils will join face-to-face virtual meetings with peers to discuss the committee’s work and inquiries with the opportunity to say what they think the committee should ask government ministers and other witnesses in question-and-answer sessions or should consider as it prepares reports.

The young people will also learn about the work of the committee and the House of Lords with the help of special briefings from Parliament.

Baroness Parminter said: “It’s great to see so many young people keen to get involved with efforts to combat climate change and protect the natural world. We had lots of interest and I thank everyone for their brilliant bids to work with us on these big issues.

“We look forward to hearing from and working with the students who’ll help us to do our job of holding the government to account and ensuring that policies meet climate targets.”