At VotesforSchools, we believe that being informed is one of the central pillars to comprehensive democratic education. For us, it goes further than just reading the headlines; it’s about having the confidence to question, debate, and form opinions. That’s why we were thrilled to see Welcome to Your Vote Week 2025 ran by the Electoral Commission (Monday 10th-Sunday 16th March) focusing on this very skill.
We are really excited by the conversations Welcome to Your Vote Week can prompt in classrooms up and down the UK: having a week to celebrate democracy and support teachers and youth workers to discuss these important issues is directly in line with what we do each week at VotesforSchools.
We help teachers to continue these conversations across their setting, and throughout the year. We, too, want our children to be informed and curious, and most importantly to be heard.
Facilitating Debate in Classrooms
Each week, we create resources for teachers to facilitate a debate with their classes. Differentiated for ages 5 through to 18, we focus on different topical issues and do not shy away from difficult conversations. From climate change to social media, immigration to the cost of living, misinformation to drone use, we are there to give teachers the knowledge and confidence needed to run their sessions.
Building Skills for Democracy
During the weekly debates, children build the habits and skills that underpin a healthy attitude towards democracy: critical thinking, tolerance of different views, speaking up, and actively listening to others.
At the end of the debate, children have the chance to vote and leave comments, giving them a regular opportunity to exercise their democratic right. We typically receive 60,000 votes each week, which is a one-of-a-kind data set that can be used to amplify the importance of youth voice everywhere.
Amplifying Youth Voices
We then make it our mission for these voices to be heard, and to go on and influence practice and policy.
Under-16s and phones? We think young people should have a say on that. Sex and relationships education reform? We need to be asking those who will be experiencing these changes firsthand. Lowering the voting age? It’s probably worth seeing how teenagers feel about having a say on polling day.
Influencing Policy & Practice
This data goes full circle: each week, key stakeholders provide us with feedback on the results, which we are then able to share back with our voters.
Think Barnardo’s commenting on how child poverty will be affected by our voters’ comments; Mind taking into account their views on mental wellbeing; the Ben Kinsella Trust sharing that their opinions on knife crime are going to be heard in Parliament. Giving young people clear evidence that those with the power to make change in their best interests are really hearing them is what makes VotesforSchools unique.
Our hope is that they will then carry this faith in their own voices forward into adult life, and make sure that they take every opportunity to make their voices heard.
Learn More
For more on VotesforSchools and what we do find out more about us here.