Model United Nations
Girls in Year 9 became international delegates in the Summer Term when they participated in a Model United Nations Conference. Their challenge was to persuade the delegations from other countries to vote for them to receive part of a £100 billion grant from the World Bank. The country with the most votes at the end of the debate would receive £50 billion and the other countries after that would receive smaller amounts depending on their final position.The idea behind the conference was to replicate the structure of the real United Nations and in order to be able to put forward a convincing argument as to why their country should receive the most money, each group of girls had to thoroughly research their allocated nation. In the weeks leading up to the conference the girls spent time investigating their countries and making decisions about what they would do with the money should they receive a grant.
Each delegation was required to give a five minute presentation to promote their argument for funding, which was followed by questions from the floor. In total 13 countries were represented including: Ethiopia, Albania, Burma, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and the Maldives. In addition each delegation produced a display board containing facts and information about their respective country.
During the afternoon some lively debate ensued with girls speaking passionately about the situation in their country and why they should be the ones to receive the grants. In the end the vote went the way of Albania, a country which previously the girls had known little about. The Albanian delegation put forward a coherent and structured argument about why they deserved the money and also went into detail about what they would do with the money to improve educational standards, reduce organised crime and boost the economy.
Taking part in the event was a fantastic opportunity for the girls to develop their skills in research, writing, public speaking, consensus building, compromise and cooperation.