On Friday 22nd May, eight Year 12 students visited the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford to participate in an immersive policy workshop. The event brought together nominated students from various secondary schools across Oxfordshire and Berkshire, providing them with an opportunity to collaborate on key public issues.
The workshop was delivered by current Master of Public Policy students at the university, who guided the students through the mechanics of policy design and advocacy. Working in teams, the students focused on a curated range of contemporary issues, with a particular emphasis on sustainability.
A reflection written by one of our Year 12 students:
“We started off the day with some ice breakers in our small groups that we were divided into with other secondary schools from Oxford. In our groups, we had mentors who were students of the school and they introduced us to what international relations is like as a course and how experiences like this are great for networking. Our main activity for the day was to come up with Future Development Goals (FDGs) for a made-up country we represented and then to present it to the other countries convincingly enough to get them to vote for our FDG. It was very exciting to explore countries’ problems and try to come up with a suitable goal and be convincing enough in our presentation to get the others to vote for it.”
Throughout the day, the students engaged in role-play, structured discussions, and formal presentations, allowing them to evaluate different perspectives and pitch their ideas to the wider group. During the workshop, the students were also joined by Professor Ngaire Woods, the Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government. Professor Woods spoke directly to the students, sharing her expert insights on public policy and modern governance.
Our Year 12 students engaged superbly with the material and collaborated well with their peers from other schools. The event offered valuable insight into the world of public policy, and we extend our thanks to the Blavatnik School of Government and the postgraduate students for hosting such an informative and interactive session.