PUPILS from Reigate and Redhill took their ideas on future global development to Parliament after triumphing over more than 100 other schools to make the finals of a national competition.
Teams from both St Bede's School in Carlton Road, Redhill, and Reigate School in Pendleton Road, Reigate, were among just five schools to present their priorities to a panel chaired by Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening, at the House of Commons. Priorities included improving security, education and health.
"We had a really exciting day," said St Bede's geography teacher David Gibbons. "Neither ourselves or Reigate School were the ultimate winners but out of 114 schools, we were both among the five finalists. It is great that two schools within five miles of each other should be finalists. It could be seen as saying something about the standard of education in this area.
"It was a fantastic experience and they also got a tour of the Houses of Parliament."
The Shape the Futures competition was compered by Channel 4 news presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Year 9 pupils took turns to put forward their ideas on what UN priorities should be from 2015 to the panel, which also included the deputy director of Unicef and representatives from the Open University and Action Aid.
Ivana Murphy, from St Bede's, said: "It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience which has given me much more confidence that I can do things which I did not think I could do."
Team mate Hannah Cheek added: "It was a real challenge but also very enjoyable. It also gave me the opportunity to understand world issues that I would not have normally looked into." They were joined by fellow pupils Tamsin Lloyd, Kristina Adriatico and Hannah Moss.
The Reigate team consisted of four Year 9 pupils Anna Baynes, Luke Barlow, George Chandler, and Jacob Beckmann-Adams.
The school's head of humanities Kelly Sutton said: "They really enjoyed it. It was absolutely amazing. They particularly enjoyed the tour of the House of Lords and Commons which they found absolutely fantastic."
Justine Greening said: "The number of schools from across the UK that have taken part in our Shape the Future competition shows that British schoolchildren want to play their part in creating a fairer and more prosperous world. Their analysis of our current development goals and creative ideas for the future shows an understanding."
