School teacher Grace finds second 'career'

SHE isn’t a politician, but Maltby school teach Grace Mundy has been working in Parliament this week.

And while she may be more familiar with teaching maths at Maltby Academy, she is now taking on a second role, helping to get people in the area more engaged in politics.

She took a party of students on a Parliamentary visit last year and was then selected for the UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador programme.

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That has involved spending three days on a crash course of political life, meeting politicians, hearing guest speakers, learning about how Parliament operates and even enjoying afternoon tea with some MPs.

She said: “The idea is then to take this knowledge back with me to share with my students, teachers and the community.

“The idea is to raise engagement with politics and for them to understand how it works.”

Grace is one of a cohort of teachers nationally taking part in the project.

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Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, was among those helping with the programme, along with his counterpart in the House of Lords, Lord McFall of Alcluith.

Going places: Teacher Grace Mundyplaceholder image
Going places: Teacher Grace Mundy

Sir Lindsay said: “In my view, you are never too young to get involved in democracy and to make things happen - so giving teachers an insight into our world is a great way to pass that message back to the classroom.

“We also appreciate having the chance to talk to teachers about their experiences, to thank them for their hard work - and to see how we can work together to get children interested in politics.”

Lord McFall, the Lord Speaker, added: “The Teacher Ambassador Programme is exceptionally well-regarded by the participants each year, and I welcome the opportunity to explore the work of the House of Lords with such a dedicated audience.

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“As a former teacher and one who has a continuing engagement with young people, I know how keen they are to understand how politics works in practice.

“This successful initiative is a great opportunity to encourage that interest.”

The scheme has 65 teachers taking part this year, and previous cohorts have been credited with teaching thousands of students about politics.”

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