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A group of Year 10 students from Applemore College had the privilege of being invited to visit number 10 Downing Street. Having walked through the famous black door they were taken up the staircase, surrounded by photographs of all the UK’s past Prime Ministers, into one of the state drawing rooms called ‘The Pillard Room’ where they met with a number of senior Civil Servants.

Prior to the visit the students had chosen four topics, Net Zero, Gender Equality, Military Families and Special Needs Education. Topics which they are passionate about, partly because of their own experiences, and wanted to discuss with the Civil Servants. The students put forward their questions, the Civil Servants responded, which in turn led to a discussion between them. Later one student reflected that “This was a massive confidence booster” and a second said “I now have more confidence to talk to people I don’t know.

Following this, the students were taken on a tour of No.10, seeing amongst many other features, the Cabinet Room and the official Dining Room with the now famous wooden doors, the backdrop to so many TV broadcasts. Various historic features of the rooms were pointed out by the Civil Servant in charge of the tour, including Winston Churchill’s armchair.

The Civil Servants who had interacted with the students, later fed back that they had found the whole experience both engaging and uplifting, commenting that there were some very capable debaters amongst the students.

The visit was organised by Trustees from The Ambitious For All Foundation and we are very grateful to the Civil Servants for giving up their valuable time, especially when they are so busy, to ensure Applemore students enjoyed such a valuable insight into the life of politicians and the work of the Civil Service.

“An extremely unique and eye-opening experience” is how one student summed up the day. A day which will be remembered for a very long time, and one that Trustees believe, will have a lasting impact helping these students develop the skills so necessary for life both within and beyond the classroom.