PUPILS at a Gwendraeth school recently welcomed their local MP to join them during a recent debate session. 

Pupils in years four, five and six of Ysgol Gynradd Drefach hold debate sessions each Friday under the name ‘Firework Fridays’, where they debate topics of their choice.

During UK Parliament Week, Carmarthenshire MP Jonathan Edwards joined the pupils to help spread the word about Parliament, what it does and how they can get involved.

Mr Edwards said it is nervewracking holding question and answer sessions saying that pupils know how to hold politicians to account and praised their skills in the debates.

Lowri Pinney, a teacher at Ysgol Gynradd Drefach, said: “The children were excited to welcome Mr Edwards to school especially after seeing him in the House of Commons, they were enthusiastic in their discussion and happy to receive his comments about their debating work and prepared a host of questions for him. I thank him for answering each question in such detail.

“It was very beneficial for children to see how the skills we practice in school are so relevant beyond school life.”

Mr Edwards said: “It is always a pleasure to visit schools across the constituency and see pupils getting engaged in debating and politics from an early age. Having the pupils choose a topic to debate is a great way of getting them involved in the democratic process and I was very impressed by their skills. It is always nerve-wracking facing a Q&A session with pupils as they really know how to hold politicians to account, I am sure we will see a few of them in the political area in years to come.”

UK Parliament Week was held between November 6-12.