Schools around the country are gearing up for Kids Voting again this year and will be running their own mock elections when the General Election is held in September. More students will be taking part in Kids Voting than at the last election in 2014. By the beginning of May, approximately 82,000 students from 440 schools had been registered for the 2017 programme. In 2014, 78,000 students from 556 schools took part. Students learn about and vote for real candidates and parties and compare the results of their school election with the results of the real election. Photo courtesy of the Wairarapa Times Age. Masterton Intermediate School student ‘Running a mock election is a practical Toni Carter casts her vote in 2014 way to show students how our electoral system works,’ says Chief Electoral Officer, Alicia Wright. ‘It vote when they turn 18.’ helps them understand the process and get ready to enrol and ‘Voting is a lifelong habit. The earlier young people start to
REGISTER NOW FOR KIDS VOTING AT THE 2017 GENERAL ELECTION Kids Voting is a chance for your students to take part in this year’s general election. Students vote for real parties and real candidates, on a real ballot paper, and compare their results with the results of the real election. It’s free and easy to hold a Kids Voting election at your school. Register your school to take part or find out more at www.kidsvoting.org.nz.
vote, the more likely they are to keep voting,’ says Ms Wright. ‘That’s why civics education is so important, and why we have developed Kids Voting and curriculum aligned teaching units for schools.’ About half the schools taking part in Kids Voting are primary and intermediate schools and about half are secondary schools. It can be run on a small or large scale, from one to two classes to the whole school. ‘Our recommendation to school principals is to run Kids Voting as a whole of school activity. It will give every student an opportunity to take part, building their knowledge of the electoral process and demystifying the voting process,’ says Ms Wright. ‘It’s great fun for students and Kids Voting ballot boxes piled up and ready to be shipped out in 2011 teachers and some schools go all out. Over the years, we’ve even seen schools hosting candidate debates with the real candidates and 95 per cent said they would definitely participate again. standing in the electorate.’ All teachers agreed the programme improved their students’ ‘Other schools have students form branches of the various knowledge and 91 per cent rated their student improvement political parties, develop their own campaigns and campaign either four or five out of five. material, and run their own voting places.’ ‘We did it as a whole school voting exercise, as it raised Teachers surveyed after Kids Voting in 2014 said it worked well. awareness of the elections and who was standing,’ said one 96 per cent of teachers thought the programme met its objectives, teacher in the survey. ‘There were many discussions heard around the school as to who (students) were going to vote for and why.’ ‘My students were really engaged in the process and they also encouraged their parents to vote,’ said another. Schools can register for Kids Voting on the Electoral Commission website. The advantage of signing up early is that they will be sent all the resources they need by the end of term two, allowing time to review the resources, understand how the programme works and plan how to run their 2017 General Election. Resources sent to schools by the Electoral Commission include Tracey a ballot box, a teacher’s guide to running mock elections, and Angela Amber Kelly templates for the school’s own electoral roll. The Commission Roxanne Ben Rosemary Douglas Sam Eden Leeroy Brent Ma cke also has teaching resources available that are aligned with nz ie Cooper Jacob Shaun Cody Alice Douglas Jane Jet Levels to of the New Zealand Curriculum and Level 5 of Te Karen Alan Jacinda Esther Carl Malcolm Miriam Harper Marautanga o Aotearoa. The teaching units can be adapted for Jo hn Shannon !! Lauren Taylor Alesha Alisha Andrew different levels of the curriculum. Elizabeth Ashley Rebecca Amy Connor Mackenzie The Your Voice, Your Choice teaching units have been Joe Melanie Mitchell ? Alan Claire Christine Karen developed in line with the social inquiry approach outlined in Samantha Daniel Sarah Anthea Bruce Christopher Tania Vanessa the New Zealand curriculum. They are designed to enable young Stephanie Erin Riley Marilu !! Daniel Helen Lucy Elease James people to ask questions, gather information and explore others’ Nathan Christoper Liam Suzanne George Melissa values and perspectives so they can form their own positions on Fletcher Nicole the issues that matter to them and their communities. For more information and to register for Kids Voting go to www.kidsvoting.co.nz
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