Gooood morning, Claremont High School!

A-level Politics students boil up a stirring brew

Unless you’ve just returned from outer space or woken from a hundred years of sleep, you can’t have failed to notice that America and President Trump have been hitting the headlines lately. In case you need bringing back down to Earth or an alarm call, the A-level Politics students are here to wake you up and make you smell the coffee.

‘The pupils were asked to make a presentation on Trump’s first year and a half in office,’ explains their teacher, Ms Kennedy. ‘They were given total freedom.’

The Year 12 class were divided into four groups, who each presented a different college assembly back in March, thereby covering the whole school. Topics ranged from trade tariffs to foreign policy and incursions into other countries.

‘They produced some incredible presentations on Iran, Venezuela, Greenland, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and tariffs,’ says Ms Kennedy. ‘This prompted the students in the audience to consider key questions, such as human rights and the legality of wars.’

Morgan Edwards 12.7 explains the rationale behind his group’s assembly. ‘The focus was on the recent activities of the Trump administration, the most significant ones: tariffs on foreign countries, increased use of ICE and the attacks on Iran. We thought these were the most important things for people to know about, especially the younger years, who may not be aware of them. We felt that the assembly was the best way to introduce these delicate topics in an easy and accessible way. We mostly wanted the students, no matter their age, to be aware of these important issues as one day President Trump could affect the UK and all of us in some way.’

Ms Kennedy was clearly pleased with her politically-engaged students: ‘They showed off their fabulous research and speaking skills and did a really good job!’

One thing’s for sure, everyone was a lot more awake and alert following these talks… Coffee to go!