Tower and Town, April 2020

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Editorial: Civic Marlborough

On Monday, 10 February, 11 ‘Form’ students aged 13 from Marlborough College interviewed six members of the Town Council and the Town Clerk at the Town Hall.

In our weekly lessons it had become apparent to me how very keen the pupils are about politics. We had earlier taken a close look at the televised campaign debates for the recent election that brought Prime Minister Johnson to power, and not a single student was short of an opinion. It is truly heartening to see that young people are aware of the issues confronting and challenging their generation, and they keenly sought information they didn’t already know, that might affect their opinions and attitudes.

Not just at the international and national level, I discovered that issues like parking and the Mop Fair right here in Marlborough were subjects about which they liked to debate and they devoured whatever information they could find about these opportunities and challenges.

It occurred to me that a wonderful opportunity was close at hand. I approached past-Mayor Lisa Farrell and she put me in touch with the Town Clerk, Shelly Parker, and an evening of interviews was arranged.

Before the actual interviews, we researched what makes for a ‘good interview’ – even taking into consideration the style of Larry King, who had such a natural skill at getting to the heart and soul of what motivates those whom he interviewed. The students received personal biographies of each of the interviewees, and then they crafted questions about what they knew about them, to try and ‘tease out’ what motivates a Town Councillor or a busy Town Clerk.

All the students came away from the experience with a true appreciation for the strength of the civic responsibility felt by those with whom they had a conversation; realising in particular that such people go well above and beyond what is expected of them to make Marlborough the wonderful town that we all enjoy. With such civically-minded people and keen, young students, our future is in good hands.

Tim Novis