At NLA, we are fortunate that as part of Northern Schools Trust we have an established link with Atlantic College, an international sixth form college in South Wales that has approximately 350 students from 90 different countries, all studying the International Baccalaureate Diploma programme.
The mission of Atlantic College is: ‘UWC Atlantic College is committed to making education a force to unite people nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.’
Ten students from the schools and academies across Northern Schools Trust were invited to attend the Model United Nations Summit last weekend where they each represented a UN member country and participated in various debates on topical issues: the death penalty, the current migrant crisis and the Middle East peace process to name but a few. All of the topics encouraged the students to collaborate and to work with others in order to draft and pass resolutions about each issue.
Rachel Bromley said of the conferences and the processes they had to follow: ‘The Model UN conference has taught me so much about international politics and how to lobby to reach an agreement with others, and how to use logical argument to form agreements with people who may have a different agenda to you. I found the debates really challenging and rewarding and have definitely developed my critical thinking skills as a result of the experience.’
The students representing NLA: Rachel Bromley, Timothy Ogurinin, and Tao Wang performed exceptionally well and enjoyed their experience immensely, with Rachel commenting ‘I enjoyed meeting new people and learning about political issues from a range of perspectives. I would definitely recommend the experience’. They also took the opportunity to meet students from around the world and learn more about life at an independent boarding school.