On Wednesday 10th October, 19 pupils from Sutton Valence School, Maidstone took part in the annual Model United Nations Conference, in Caversham. This is a well-established conference, and this year it was attended by over twenty schools.
The pupils, in teams of 4, representing Egypt, Argentina, Greece, Costa Rica, and France. They had to prepare by researching the social, economic and political policies of these countries and then using their knowledge of the country create resolutions to be debated in a United Nations style forum.
Lobbying other countries to gain enough support to have their resolution debated, they had to negotiate alliances with other countries and have the confidence to stand up in front of 120 of their peers and justify their resolution and answer questions from other countries before the voting stages.
The resolutions included solutions to end the use of torture and the death penalty, ensure freedom of expression on the internet, end violence against women and girls, provide universal education and protecting democracy.
The winning resolution, was put forward by Katie Vernon (L6th) and Matthew Newman (L6th) who had the difficult task of designing a resolution to 'Protect human rights while countering terrorism' as Costa Rica.
Other team members, Tomas Bennett (5th Form) and Guy Thomas(5th Form), worked hard to gain votes and ask difficult questions about other countries’ resolutions to ensure a victory for Sutton Valence.
In addition, Michael Adebiyi (5th Form) was also awarded a prize for his efforts throughout the day and for some excellent questions asked during the main assembly stage.
Amanda Sunde, Head of Academic Scholars said, “Our congratulations go to everyone involved, we are so proud of what our pupils have achieved.”