Education Minister pays visit to Fairview

Education Minister, Peter Weir, attended the event at Fairview Primary School, which saw pupils from P3 to P6 given the chance to vote for their class representative. The 12 new class representatives will take up office in September.

The Hillmount Avenue school has a very active school council and uses this system to ensure that all pupils have a voice.

The Minister said: “I am pleased to have the opportunity to visit the school today and to witness the school council elections in action.

“It is great to see children involved in politics at a young age and gain an understanding of the electoral system. I would like to wish all those budding politicians involved in the election today well for the future.”

The Minister also met with the School Eco Committee who have worked hard to help the school secure three green flags.

The Minister added: “The Eco-Schools Programme is the world’s largest environmental education programme and it is wonderful to see the school rewarded for their efforts in helping to make the school a greener and more sustainable environment in which to work and learn in.”

Commenting on the visit, Mrs Paula Matthews, principal, said: “It was an honour to have the Education Minister visit us within his first few weeks in office. We took the opportunity to showcase the wide variety of opportunities pupils in Fairview Primary School have. Minister Weir got to see buddy reading with our P2 and P6 classes, as well as some outdoor play for our P1 children. After hearing both award winning choirs, members of our school council and Eco Committee took him on a tour of the school and told him all about the different projects and initiatives our school has been involved with this year. It was a privilege to hear some of our senior pupils speak so confidently and knowledgably about our school. Our P7s have been doing some research and discussion on the EU Referendum and Minister Weir spent some time talking to pupils about the vote and listening to their thoughts.”