‘Talking Change’The Mix 2011

‘The Mix’ is an annual event inspired by the Chislehurst Schools Forum (established by the Society in 2008); its goal is to bring the students from our local schools closer together, through joint activities of relevance to Chislehurst.

In previous years the focus has been on producing a joint newsletter.  This year’s event was designed as a debating forum, and on 22 June, nine of our local schools (Primary and Secondary) sent students to St. Peter and St. Paul’s Primary School where the thirty-six pupils from years 5 to 8 (ages 10 to 14) were placed in four groups and asked to complete various challenges.

In addition, eight senior students met to discuss local issues in the first ‘Chislehurst Youth Council’ (CYC). Once the older students had finished their meeting they acted as Prefects and helped run the various elements of the day.

At the end, prizes were given out to:

The event was a great success; all of the students developed their public speaking skills, we all found out much more about what our young people think of Chislehurst, and, most importantly, everyone enjoyed themselves!

Click here to see a gallery of photographs taken during the day.

We would like to thank all of the students, the staff who assisted, and those who helped organise everything The Chislehurst Society paid for the meals and awards.

Thanks in particular to Joanna Seymour, Head at St Peter and St Paul Primary School, for hosting the event, to Jim Attridge, Assistant Head at Farrington’s School for leading the organisation and and Kirsty Everson, St Peter and St Paul Primary School, for making sure everything happened as it should on the day.

Here are some quotes from students after the event:

'We had many great ideas one of them was a paintball party area, which we acted out! I loved “The Mix” debate and wish I could do it again in the future.'

'Another part of my day was attending a meeting as part of the Youth Council. During this meeting students from local different schools got a chance to discuss some of the problems we see within the area, for example the issue of graffiti in Chislehurst.'

'I feel very privileged to be given this opportunity to speak in public.  I had a wonderful experience debating, and learnt a lot of new skills.'

'The youth councils had to judge the pupils throughout the debating sessions and their presentations. It was difficult to nominate the winners as everybody had put in a great deal of effort into their work and enjoyed themselves. Overall The Mix was a very successful event for everyone, and I would happily attend it again if I were given the chance to do so.'

'Overall, I had a brilliant time discussing changes in Chislehurst and developing my debating skills. I learnt how to speak confidently and express my ideas, while socialising with other schools. I would definitely do it again and would recommend anyone to take part.
My personal favourite activity was Shipwreck Survival.'

'We had to imagine that we were on a sinking ship. There was only one lifeboat left with three seats. We all had to battle for these three seats by pretending to be a ‘Chislehurst Celebrity’ and then try to convince at least one of the Sixth Formers within the group that you were the best person to occupy the seat in the life boat and then become a chief of the new island. I came 2nd in that one!'