Last Tuesday Archbishop Holgate’s School was delighted to be able to welcome all seven of the candidates standing for election to the York Central Seat in the forthcoming General Election next month. The event had been organised as part of our desire to engage with the local community and the democratic process. In particularly we were hoping to see lots of young people, perhaps first time voters, engaging with local politics. Often people talk about the apathy of young people, but the recent Scottish Referendum was a clear indicator of the political passion young people can hold.

As a church school we are passionate about Justice and Compassion as they are among our school values. Thus, the staff and students were looking forward to judging the candidates against these measures as well as other issues too. Key areas explored through the audiences’ questions were education policy & funding, as well as reforming the benefit system, Foodbanks and poverty. These questions were posed by members of the public and the evening expertly chaired by Richard Staples, presenter and weekend Editor at Radio York.

Another purpose of the evening was to facilitate local people in getting to know the candidates as individuals and then selecting their elected representative in an informed way. It is always important to us as a school that Archbishop Holgate’s is at the heart of the life of its local community and the General Election is a big part of that.

Parent, local business woman and HR consultant Jane Lewis said, “It was a brilliant opportunity for pupils, parents and the wider community to have the opportunity to question the candidates face-to-face on issues that matter. Thank you to those involved in organising the event, especially the number of sixth form students who welcomed us and collected our questions.”

Parent and Vice-Chair of our governing body Andrew Clarke said that the evening was, "An excellent event enhanced by the Student Leadership team who expertly guided visitors to car parking spaces and provided a warm and informative welcome at the entrance and in the hall. This was a refreshing opportunity to hear the local candidates show their passion for what they believe in; free from national media confrontational soundbites. Very well done to all involved.”

Richard Nihill – Lay Chaplain and member of the Senior Leadership team