A St Clement’s High School student’s project benefited from a voice of experience, when she interviewed a former Leader of the House of Lords about women in politics.

Leah Barton spoke to Conservative Life Peer Baroness Evans of Bowes Park as part of her Year 10 GCSE Citizenship project in which she was investigating the unequal representation of women in politics.

“The focus of the interview was to understand more about unequal representation of women in politics and how it can affect women wanting to get into politics or standing as a candidate in an election,” she explained. “I asked Baroness Evans about her personal opinion and perspective of unequal representation, and what she thinks could be done to improve the divide from a young age.

“She said that social media plays a big part in this, due to abuse targeted at women and pressures from the public; however, she did say that attitudes and stereotypes have improved. She thinks that schools should create more opportunities for young girls to become more politically engaged, through bringing MPs into school and having more discussions about politics.

“Overall, women in politics are very under-represented, where stereotypes and criticism are a high influence on women, and if support was given to women when starting, it can give them more confidence to have as they go through the process of being a candidate, and encourage them to believe they can win and become a councillor or MP at some point, if they have the true courage.”

Baroness Evans was made a Life Peer in 2014, and served as Leader of the House of Lords from 2016 to 2022. Her husband, James Wild, is the Member of Parliament for North West Norfolk.

Due to a last-minute commitment, the interview was conducted over the phone, where our Head of Citizenship, Abigail Morton, was on hand to facilitate proceedings.

“Leah’s target in particular was to gain specific insight into the perspectives of women currently involved in politics, as to whether women are under-represented, whether they are elected representatives themselves, women working within political parties, or female candidates in local elections,” she said.

“Her aim is to gather a wide range of ideas, views, and opinions, through both primary and secondary research, in order to write a report to show her findings. Her findings will conclude whether or not there is inequality in politics based on gender.”

Other Citizenship projects at our school, which is a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, have seen students take part in fundraising, campaign on issues affecting the area, and volunteer within the community.

Mrs Morton continued: “Year 10 GCSE Citizenship students are all currently working on their Active Citizenship Investigations at the moment. This is an independent project which is 15 per cent of their total grade. They have to choose a topic of interest and either carry out an investigation into an issue, or carry out a form of advocacy to make a difference in the community or in wider society.

“We have students raising money for various charities, we have students raising awareness of the impact of potholes on young people in the community, students volunteering to visit the residents at Terrington Lodge Care Home, and this is just some of the outstanding action being taken by our Year 10 students at the moment.”

She added: “Leah is the first student at St Clement’s to interview a member of the House of Lords as part of their Active Citizenship project. We are very proud of Leah for showing initiative and reaching out to various people in aid of her project.

“We are very excited that Baroness Evans was able to be of such a great deal of help to Leah in reaching a conclusion in her GCSE work.”

Music lovers were in for a treat, when our pupils joined others from across the region for this year’s Music for Youth Festival at Springwood High School.

“Every year we organise the Regional Festival for the Music for Youth organisation,” said Springwood’s Head of Music, Robin Norman. “Each group is assigned a ten-minute slot and performs three pieces. There was everything from Hamilton through to How to Train Your Dragon, and many more styles.”

Springwood, which is a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, entered five musical groups, with the Concert Band, Cantabene, Kingsmen, Year 7 Choir, and The Gliders all taking part in the event, making a total of around 150 students from across Years 7 to 13.

Other participating Trust schools included Clenchwarton Primary, Heacham Junior, Snettisham Primary, Walpole Cross Keys Primary, West Lynn Primary, and St Clement’s High School, while there was also a performance from pupils from the Windmill Federation.

“Music for Youth as a whole goes back as far as the 1980s, but the Regional Festival at Springwood has been taking place since circa 1995,” continued Mr Norman, who helped organise the event, as well as directing some of the Springwood groups.

“Entries are open to all schools and youth music groups from across the region. In total on the day, there were more than 20 different groups that took part from different schools. Anyone can enter through the Music for Youth programme.”

Regional winners will progress to the National Music for Youth Festival, which is due to take place in Birmingham in July.

“We are currently awaiting the outcome of the Regional Festival,” added Mr Norman. “We are keeping our fingers crossed that one of our groups will be invited, as we have a rich history of being asked to represent East Anglia over the years.

“Personally, I feel events such as this are really important. Not only does it give important performance opportunities to the young people, from which they receive invaluable feedback on how to improve, but it also gives an opportunity for them to hear other young people perform throughout the day – a truly inspirational activity.”

History left the classroom, when students from St Clement’s High School visited Germany and Poland for a four-day exploration of key World War II sites.

The 46-strong group first spent time in Berlin, where they visited a range of historic landmarks, including Hitler’s Olympic Stadium, the DDR Museum showing life in East Berlin, the Berlin Wall, the East Side Gallery, Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Wannsee House where the Final Solution was decided, and the Topography of Terror exhibition at the former headquarters of the Gestapo.

The students then travelled to Krakow to see Schindler’s factory, the Jewish Ghetto, and Auschwitz and Birkenau.

There was also plenty of time for sight-seeing and exploring – as well as the fun challenge of an evening’s bowling.

“It was so interesting to actually be in the places it all actually happened,” said one student, while another said: “I loved the DDR Museum – seeing the rooms and kitchens and stuff, and how people lived back in the East was cool.”

“We did lots of fun things in between the more difficult places,” added a fellow student. “Auschwitz was hard, but I am glad I did it.”

It was the fourth time the trip had taken place.

“Trips like this bring what we talk about in lessons to life,” said Anton Modica, Head of History at our school, which is a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

“They really help our young people touch and feel history, especially as it is affecting our world today, and ultimately try and help contribute to our students becoming all-round kind, decent adults who can critically think and empathise.

“Our students were fantastic, and took it all in, showing the utmost respect, and I am sure we left with memories and reflections to last a lifetime.”

Books united the generations, when students from St Clement’s High School shared stories with residents at Terrington Lodge.

The four Year 8 and 9 students visited the care home as part of our school’s ongoing connection with the care home.

“The students read books of uplifting stories and picture books focusing on different decades from the 1960s to 1990s,” explained our Librarian, Jenny Ford, who accompanied the group.

“The books they shared were old books from the 1950s to current day, and were designed to trigger memories and help the residents recall memories. The books were on pastimes, old television and musical stars, travel, and short stories.”

“The residents talked to the students about their school experiences, where they worked, and how they played outside all the time as children,” she continued. “Some residents have lived locally all their lives, and talked about the local area.

“The students enjoyed hearing the residents reminisce about their lives, and it started conversations about sport, hobbies, books, and travel. It was a great opportunity to discuss historical events, and revisit memories that the residents shared with the students.

“Some of the residents took a turn to read to the students, and they clearly enjoyed the experience.”

Our school, which is part of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, has close ties with Terrington Lodge, with visits taking place several times a year.

“The events are very important for students to develop confidence with reading aloud to a different audience with possible communication barriers like memory loss and hearing impairments,” added Mrs Ford. “It helps forge strong links across generations and creates relationships in the community.

“The school visits at Christmas time, and the music students also visit and have small performances at the Lodge.

“This visit helped strengthen the connections between the school and Terrington Lodge, and we look forward to going back later in the year.”

It is time to get snap happy, with amateur photographers at our school invited to showcase their talents in a photography contest.

Held in conjunction with the King’s Lynn and District Camera Club (KLDCC), the West Norfolk Academies Trust (WNAT) Photographic Competition is open to staff and pupils across the Trust’s member schools, as well as those within the Windmill Federation.

“It is open to all students from the Trust who are in Key Stages 2, 3, 4 and 5,” explained WNAT Confidential Administrator Emma Pearman. “It’s also open to school staff. There are five categories – each of the Key Stages, plus a Staff category.

“This year we will also be inviting students and staff from the Windmill Federation Schools to take part.”

The annual competition is taking place for the third year running, with past themes having included ‘Our Environment’ and ‘My Community’.

“There is an open theme this year, covering any subject the student or staff member thinks would make an interesting picture,” said Mrs Pearson.

WNAT high schools taking part include Marshland in West Walton, St Clement’s in Terrington St Clement, Smithdon in Hunstanton, and Springwood in Lynn; alongside Trust primaries Clenchwarton, Gaywood, Heacham Junior, Snettisham, Walpole Cross Keys, and West Lynn.

Initial judging will be carried out by the WNAT Senior Leadership Team, with ten entries chosen from each category to go through to the final at Springwood on 25 June, where winners will be chosen by a panel from KLDCC.

“There were 147 images submitted last year,” continued Mrs Pearman. “It is expected that there will be more this year, with it increasing in popularity year on year, and also with the fact that the Windmill Federation Schools are invited to take part this year.”

Each category winner will receive £20 of Amazon vouchers, while one overall winner will be awarded the Dave Ashfield Cup, which last year went to Year 13 Springwood Sixth Form student, Ava.

“The Trust places a huge importance on extra-curricular activity for all of our students, alongside excellent relationships with our community including the KLDCC,” added WNAT CEO Andy Johnson.

To enter, send a jpeg format photograph, no larger than A4, and a maximum of 3600 x 2400 pixels, to e.pearman@wnat.co.uk before the closing deadline 1 June.

Entries for the KLCC / WNAT Photographic Competition are now open!

Get your entries in for this year's OPEN themed photographic competition. Prizes for all finalists! 

You have until Monday 1st June 2026 to submit your images to e.pearman@wnat.co.uk

See poster for full details along with a guide to photography to help you get some great shots.