A little part of Westminster came to Preesall on 10th February as Member of Parliament for Lancaster and Fleetwood, Cat Smith, paid a visit to the school. A chance meeting with Head of RE, Miss Patterson, whilst Cat was out visiting constituents, led to an invitation to address students. Cat jumped at the chance and the results were impressive.
Cat firstly addressed the whole of Year 11. With ten weeks of lessons left before their GCSE examinations, Cat was able to share some of her own experiences of school and work to inspire the students. Cat revealed that she even missed some of her GCSE exams, whilst at school in Barrow, due to an accident in her final year. However, none of that held Cat back and she shared her journey all the way to the Labour front benches with the year group.
Next, it was a grilling from the Student Leadership Team. Each student had prepared a particularly tricky and searching question for Cat and for three-quarters of an hour, they dug into Cat’s views on local and national issues, as well as finding out about the pressures of being an MP, a mum and a participant in some quite extraordinary political events over recent years.
Cat then enjoyed her first proper ‘school lunch’ for a while before bidding us all goodbye.
Cat reflected, “All the students were bright and engaging.. made for a great visit with some really thoughtful questions. Thank you for having me!”
Deputy Headteacher, Anthony Lord, said, “I cannot thank Cat and Lydia enough for finding time in their incredibly busy schedules to come and visit us. It is so important for young people to engage in the political process. What could be better than hearing about the journey that Cat has made from school in the North-West of England to the heart of Westminster? We cannot wait to have Cat back to visit again – we’ll make sure we have another set of searching questions ready!”
Cat speaks to Year 11
Cat meets the Head Boy and Girl Team
Cat fields questions from the Student Leadership Team