On Tuesday 7 October, a selection of Year 8 pupils took part in the Model United Nations conference, hosted by the Senior School. This is a large scale, prestigious event in which hundreds of pupils from approximately fifteen schools participate in a United Nations style debate. Many of the pupils taking part are studying for GCSEs or ‘A’ levels, meaning the intellectual challenge of the debate is extremely demanding.
In the morning session, pupils worked within committees, trying to pass resolutions on their pre-assigned reports. These ranged from infant mortality in LEDCs to the problems of deforestation and the international challenges faced by addressing the continued existence of forced marriages and underage marriages in many parts of the world. Our pupils grappled with complex ideas, raising points of information (POIs) and even proposing their own resolutions - which faced the grilling of delegates from countries across the world and, in one of our pupil’s cases, was passed. This resulted in the highly acclaimed reward of… clapping!
In the afternoon, a General Assembly was held. En masse, the delegates were introduced to a crisis situation which unfolded throughout the session. We were treated to a cameo performance by (not quite the real) Donald Trump, who was keen to acquire Greenland at whatever consequence. Here, pupils had to spontaneously respond to the situation and, depending on their pre-assigned country, faced strong opposition. The delegates’ ability to compose powerful rhetoric under intense pressure was hugely inspiring and whilst our pupils for the most part followed this session in awe, they also forged opinions and collaborated with pupils across a range of schools to form alliances and join forces to draft resolutions.
The day was hugely impressive and inspiring, not least because the entire event was led by previous Prep pupils with Pippa Nunn acting calmly and collectedly as Secretary General of the event. Our pupils behaved with maturity and courage, stepping so far beyond their comfort zones that they surprised themselves. It was an honour to accompany them and to be immersed in a simulation of the world stage with our politicians and negotiators of tomorrow.
“The MUN was a fantastic opportunity to learn about how the United Nations works, the language they use in debates, what resolutions are and how countries come together to try to solve world problems.
Meeting new people from different schools and working together was interesting and having to think about problems from another perspective gave us a better idea of how the wider world works.”
By Jack N, Year 8
