The Bridge Academy Children Speak Up!

Children have some of the most insightful thoughts & ideas that’s why performance poet and fiction writer, Keith Jarrett and a group of mentors spent six weeks with the students of Bridge Academy to work on some of the issues that matters most to them as part of Speak Up.

Speak Up in it’s third time running, supports young people in brainstorming through ideas that matter, ideas that change the world and ideas that are close to them and helps them craft short speeches. This year, we collaborated with the Education Service at the Houses of Parliament where the children of Bridge Academy took the stage in the Jubilee Room on the 26th June to passionately speak up about what matters most to them.

Topics ranged from gender equality, music, education to homelessness, animal rights and technology and drew our very own Hackney MP, Meg Hillier to come by and give feedback on the speeches. Every speech was imagined and beautifully penned to express their significance to current day politics whilst maintaining every child’s individual voice.

Speak Up was wrapped up early afternoon as the children returned back to their respective classes, but their echoes on the issues raised continued to create conversations in the room.

Big thanks to the UK Parliament Education Outreach Team and everyone at The Bridge Academy for being part of such an inspiring event!