Year 6 holds its own federal election
“AND the new prime minister of Australia for 2019 is … Zaliah Moloney and her Gold Nation Party”. Let us explain … In late term 2, Belinda Greene, our Year 6 teacher, announced that our cohort would be holding an actual federal election.
You might be thinking, “how could a bunch of wild Year 6 kids hold an actual election?”
First things first. We were sorted into groups. Then we had to create a party name, motto and logo. A leader was then decided in each of our groups, which resulted in long, heated rounds of paper, scissors, rock to determine who this would be.
After that we had to research and make up our own three policies that would benefit Australia and encourage our classmates to decide which party to vote for.
Some examples of these policies were changing from coal to renewable energy, closing the gender pay gap and shortening the asylum seeker processing time.
Next we made advertisements and leaflets to help persuade our country/ class to vote for us. Once all that was finished, we had to write a speech to help us win the election. Fast forward to election day. Unlike Australia, we didn’t have months to think about who to vote for. Not that it mattered — we had already made deals with other groups.
The tension was growing in the room as we rehearsed our speeches, which included what campaign speeches usually include, such as policies, information and loud shouts of “Vote for us”.
After our speeches and preferential voting, the waiting period began as we anxiously looked forward to the results from our teacher.
“Drum roll please … the new prime minister of Australia is … Zaliah Moloney and her Gold Nation Party”.
As those words exited Mrs Greene’s mouth, the whole class took a moment to register it before the Gold Nation Party jumped up and the rest of us clapped and cheered.
Learning about systems of government and trying to figure out how to navigate an election was a wonderful experience that will never be forgotten. Mission complete.
Gold Nation Party was in charge of our final lesson.
They organised fun activities with input and votes from their peers, like a real democratic government. The pepperoni pizza and movie was enjoyed by all.
Move over, ScoMo, SFX Year 6s are ready to run this nation.