At Redhill we prepare children for life and one of life’s key skills is to be able to communicate effectively. It is paramount for children to have the confidence to voice their opinion and know they have a right to be heard. We believe that this should be at the core of a Redhill education resulting in strong individuals who are eager to make positive change and are equipped with the skills to do just that.

As a team, we attempt to find ways to develop these skills and we start with open-ended questions such as:

• How are we promoting the development of our children’s voices in early childhood and beyond?
• What is the connection between identity and voice?
• How do our children become thoughtful about when and for what they should use their voices?
• What role does listening play in developing one’s voice?
• How do children learn that their voice is a powerful tool for positive change?
• How does their voice help make a difference?

‘Finn’s Law’ was the result of activism at Redhill and started our journey off perfectly. The children heard that the most someone could be charged with for hurting a service animal was six months and felt the law should change. They wrote letters to the Justice Minister and as a result presented their views to their local MP who in seeing how passionate and articulate they were he took the case forward to Parliament. The children’s determination to the cause led to the change in the law and they received special mention in both the House of Commons and the Lords. In this process they learnt key skills such as determination, resilience and how to frame a point of view in both the written and spoken word.

Subsequently, other children from across Redhill got involved with ‘Finn’s Law Part 2’ to change the law for anyone who injures any animal. At this point the project escalated and schools from all over the country joined in having heard about the campaign in the press. Again, the children were successful and changed the law. As a result, they were invited up to Parliament to meet Finn the dog, had a video message sent to them from the leader of the House of Commons and were visited at school by Lord German.

To keep the momentum going, we decided to hold a ‘Parliament Month’. Here children aged 4 upwards took part in creating manifestos, debating and taking part in a vote. The children were challenged to evaluate their presentations, work together in teams but also learnt how to be a leader and how to make themselves heard in the right manner.

A little while later the children went on a trip to visit the local council chambers. During the visit the mayor mentioned that 16-year-olds were not allowed to vote in the local election. This led to the children presenting their view that this should change in front of the Mayor and Council. In taking on a new challenge they could draw upon the range of skills previously acquired.

The work on politics has taught the children that they should care about what is happening in the World around them, given them confidence and enabled them to make a difference. As a school we must give them the opportunity to take on different causes to use their voice and collective power to bring about positive change.