8. Not your average bunting

Photo: Gomersal Primary School

This fantastic bunting was created by children at Gomersal Primary School. It was on show at Batley Older People’s Centre on Saturday 24th March 2018 as part of a special event to celebrate International Women’s Day and Vote 100.

The children used images from the past to inspire their creativity and worked hard to produce beautiful pieces of art. They were inspired by old photographs and propaganda posters. While creating the bunting, they learnt some facts about women’s rights in the early 1900s and found out about suffragettes Emmeline Pankhurst and Emily Davison.

Specialist art teacher Mandy Barrett says this is “not your average child made bunting” – and you can see why…

Photo: Gomersal Primary School

Photo: Gomersal Primary School

The event at Batley Older People’s Centre was partly funded by a small grant from the Women’s Vote Centenary Grant Scheme.

Women’s Vote Centenary Grant Scheme

 

---

100 little deeds for local democracy

To celebrate Vote 100, we’re sharing 100 little ways that citizens in Kirklees are doing something to strengthen our local democracy. If you’ve been inspired by the children’s creativity, why not try making your own Vote 100 bunting for a community event? We’d love to hear how you get on: Share your little deeds for local democracy

---

 

Advertisement

7. Debating and creating in the classroom

Photo: Gomersal Primary School

Gomersal Primary School recently borrowed the Parliamentary Loan Box from the Education service in Parliament. They have loved using this to create their own House of Commons in their art room. Over 300 children have had the opportunity to recreate debates in this classroom. Year 4 children used the resources to debate about women’s right to vote. The children thought very carefully and discussed the issues carefully.

The school’s younger children have also learnt about the lives of Emmeline Pankhurst and Emily Davison in a lesson linked to their history topic of ‘Famous people who have changed the world’. They worked in the art room to create some beautiful mono prints.

Photo: Gomersal Primary School

Photo: Gomersal Primary School

Specialist art teacher Mandy Barrett has recently trained to be a UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador and will be doing lots more to promote democracy within the school.

You can find out more on the Gomersal Primary School website:

UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador – Gomersal Primary School

 

Here’s where to find UK Parliament resources for schools:

Teacher resources and lesson plans – Parliament Education service

Order a Parliament Loan Box

 

---

100 little deeds for local democracy

To celebrate Vote 100, we’re sharing 100 little ways that citizens in Kirklees are doing something to strengthen our local democracy. If you’ve been inspired by the creativity of the Gomersal Primary School community, why not try something similar in your school? We’d love to hear how you get on: Share your little deeds for local democracy

---

 

6. Learning from young women in Huddersfield

Dr Grainne McMahon, University of Huddersfield. Photo by Anthony McKeown.

Dr Grainne McMahon from the University of Huddersfield is researching young women’s political participation – what are the barriers and what do young women want?

Grainne tells us: “We keep saying young people don’t have a voice. Young people do have  voice – they never stop talking. We aren’t listening, that’s the problem…”

Her research shows that young women want a less adversarial political system… “the world would simply be a better place if we had a more gender equal politics. Everyone has got to contribute.”

This talk was one of the Notwestminster 2018 Lightning talks at The Media Centre in Huddersfield on Saturday 17th February 2018. You can watch Grainne’s talk on YouTube:

---

100 little deeds for local democracy

To celebrate Vote 100, we’re sharing 100 little ways that citizens in Kirklees are doing something to strengthen our local democracy. If you’ve been inspired by Grainne’s talk, why not do something to find out more about what young women in Kirklees think about politics? We’d love to hear how you get on: Share your little deeds for local democracy

---

 

5. Democracy in the Making – suffragette rosettes

In 1908, the  Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) chose a colour scheme to unify participants in an enormous demonstration in London’s Hyde Park. The three colours they chose became the visual identity for the women’s suffrage movement that we still recognise today – purple for dignity, white for purity and green for hope.

As part of the Democracy in the Making event, artist Amy Hirst showed people how to make their own suffragette rosettes, using a choice of papers and ribbons in purple, white and green.

Democracy in the Making – twitter moment

 

---

100 little deeds for local democracy

To celebrate Vote 100, we’re sharing 100 little ways that citizens in Kirklees are doing something to strengthen our local democracy. If you’ve been inspired by Amy’s creativity, why not have a go at making your own rosettes, badges, ribbons or sashes? We’d love to hear how you get on: Share your little deeds for local democracy

---

 

4. Young women in politics

Mehrissa Sufi, who is one of our fantastic Kirklees Youth Councillors, took time out from revising for her GCSEs to share her thoughts about women in politics – a subject that really matters to her – with participants at a busy annual event in Huddersfield.

Mehrissa says that being a youth councillor has really opened her eyes to the world of politics and how people can directly influence what happens in their communities and beyond. She also talks about her amazing male friends in the audience and says we need to “find a way to empower young women without disempowering young men”.

This talk was one of the Notwestminster 2018 Lightning talks at The Media Centre in Huddersfield on Saturday 17th February 2018. You can watch Mehrissa’s talk on YouTube:

---

100 little deeds for local democracy

To celebrate Vote 100, we’re sharing 100 little ways that citizens in Kirklees are doing something to strengthen our local democracy. If you’ve been inspired by Mehrissa’s talk, why not do something to help young people have voice and learn about local democracy? We’d love to hear how you get on: Share your little deeds for local democracy

---