The KS2 School Council members, together with Mrs Skevington, Ms Crampton and Ms Morris, visited City Hall on Wednesday 9 November 2022 to find out about the role of the Mayor and how the London Assembly works.  

We took the mini-bus to the O2 and we got the cable-cars over the Thames. We saw lots of iconic buildings; we also saw the thought-provoking statue of the Duck-Boy.  

We arrived at City Hall before having a (slightly daunting) security check and were then taken to one of the committee meeting rooms, full of screens and lots of seats. A man named Richard met us – he had been working at the Mayor's office since the very beginning of City Hall in the year 2000. He told us lots of interesting things that we weren’t aware of, such as: they are involved in a variety of different events (normally promoting them to the younger generation) including the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the London Marathon, and that every month they have a big meeting called The Mayor’s Question Time.   

Richard told us about the history of the building: City Hall was built in 2000, and while the building was being constructed, they had to use a run-down hotel in the backstreets of Westminster as their base. This year (2022) they moved out of the old building by Tower Bridge, as the rent became too high and they didn’t think it gave Londoners good value for money. They already owned the current building and they weren’t using it for anything, so they moved in!  

Richard explained the role of the Mayor and how the Assembly works and he also showed us the Mayor’s list of priorities including Art and Culture, Business, Fire, Housing, Planning, Police, Regeneration, Sport, Transport, Health, Environment and Young People; and explained how we could all get involved and have a say in how London is run. We also saw an inspirational film showing iconic moments in London’s history.  

We were also able to attend a live meeting of the assembly where they were discussing how to raise money to help conquer climate change and what to spend it on. We were welcomed into the meeting by the chairperson and our representative for Greenwich and Lewisham, Len Duvall was also there.  

It was interesting to see how the process of running London works and how as school councillors we represent the school community in the same way the Mayor and the Assembly represent London.   

Written by Isabelle and Kacey - Year 6 School-Council representatives.