This weekend at Canons, NLCS hosted the first-ever Mini – NLCSMUN conference. Year 5 students from Bute House, Pembridge Hall, and St Christopher’s joined NLCS pupils to form the four committees.
Once all the delegates arrived, the welcome ceremony began in the Main Hall and the excitement and anticipation started to increase!
The day started off with entertaining ice breakers to help the girls get to know one another, some of them gave convincing arguments as to why white chocolate was their favourite, however, others disagreed by listing all of their favourite milk-chocolate bars! After the ice breakers, the NLCS Sixth Formers and Year 11 students gave the Year 5 delegates a training session on how to write an effective resolution. Their wise pearls of wisdom were greatly absorbed by the Year 5 pupils and added to their already excellent resolutions.
After all of their hard work, a well-deserved lunch was served, with some scrumptious cake and jelly for dessert. With the weather being so lovely, the delegates enjoyed our beautiful 30-acre site with the NLCS representatives teaching the other students how to play our traditional game of ‘Budge.’
With the resolutions all written, the delegates returned to their committee rooms to present and vote on their resolutions in preparation for the General Assembly. When all of the parents and guests arrived, they took their seats eager to hear the resolutions that were passed to General Assembly. With Bute House starting off the Assembly, the delegates of France gave a convincing argument about the risk of an alien invasion, shortly followed by NLCS’s delegate of Afghanistan who helped to show both sides of the argument. Then Pembridge Hall’s delegate of the United Kingdom, and others, questioned how we will be protected from aliens. All assembly members and guests are now equipped to help manage the risk of an alien invasion!
Next up, the resolution of the issue of plastic in the ocean was co-presented by the delegates of France and the United Kingdom. After an immense line of questioning from other countries, Pembridge Hall stood their ground with well-articulated rebuttals, and the resolution was passed! After a short break, the delegates of Afghanistan from Bute House led an entertaining and informative discussion as to whether chocolate can lead to obesity. St Christophers’ challenged the resolutions with a series of well-informed questions, NLCS followed by questioning the delegates on sugar tax. The St Christopher’s delegate of Nigeria gave a scientific and entertaining counterargument by stating that “children need sugar!” With great arguments listed such as having compulsory sports lessons and making school meals free for all students, it was overruled by the convincing counterarguments!
It is an immense pleasure to work in such an extraordinary school where teachers are trusted to launch trailblazing initiatives whilst providing students with opportunities to develop their leadership skills. The Mini-NLCSMUN event that took place last weekend is the perfect portrait of a dream that became reality because of the tightknit community that is NLCS. I am so incredibly proud of my team of MUN Chairs and Secretary-Generals, who were pivotal to the success of the day with their experience and warmth, and of course, of the very brave delegates who did not shy away from the challenging questions. Thank you for a magnificent day! Miss Santos, Teacher i/c MUN
The final committee speech was delivered by the delegates of USA by the Bute House students on the resolution of child labour. They gave a well-spoken resolution displaying their ideas of fining large companies and encouraging surprise inspections in factories. After a difficult question from NLCS, the Bute House girls stood their ground and gave a response fitting with current political affairs. After a lovely afternoon tea in celebration of the Year 5 students speaking so passionately within the Assembly, the delegates were awarded in recognition for their contributions to the event.
On behalf of everyone here at NLCS, we would like to thank you all for attending, not only the first-ever Mini-NLCSMUN but also the first global conference of its type. It has been a pleasure to welcome all of our guests to the General Assembly, and we hope that all of the students had a wonderful time participating.
by Poppy, Year 13
