Visit to Number 10

By Dawson Panter-Wray, 12

Jill Dando News Centre Students aged 10 and 11 were part of the first ever Children’s Lobby in Britain to interview Boris Johnson in Downing Street.

Students from The King Alfred School Academy and The Priory Learning Trust represented their schools.

They had a tour of Number 10 including a tour of the Cabinet room, before pitching their questions to Boris.

Wearing their Jill Dando News Centre jackets, the students then got autographs and posed for photos.

They quizzed the prime minister on a variety of questions, from whether he was currently facing any particular problems to whether he still gets to ride his bike. They also received a tour of Number 10, where they were shown iconic rooms, including getting to take their seats around the well known, historical table in the Cabinet Room.

The lucky students then got to speak to a variety of political news correspondents from multiple news networks, and even met the government's Chief Mouser, Larry the cat, all improving their journalism knowledge and skills.

Boris was announcing £14 billion of schools funding to the nation and wanted children to be the first to hear. 

The JDNC students were featured on TV outlets including BBC, ITV, sky News and Channel 4.

Amazingly, this was the second interview that the Jill Dando News Centre students had carried out on Boris in less than two months. 

In July he made a visit to the King Alfred School Academy.

Elijah Maxwell, aged 10, said: “This was an amazing day. I will never forget it.”