A local secondary school has made it to the finals of the BBC’s Schools Question Time competition. St Ninian’s High School is one of 15 across the British Isles that are planning their own versions of BBC1’s Thursday night political debate, complete with chairman, studio guests and live audience. If St Ninian’s is one of four winners that will be announced this spring, its students will work behind the scenes on the real programme this July. ‘Schools Question Time was promoted on the programme. We decided to get involved as the politics students all watch Question Time and decided it would be something fun and worthwhile to do,’ explained Liam Core, politics teacher. ‘We had to submit a written entry detailing how we would make a Question Time programme. We proposed a panel, suggested the issues that could be discussed and commented on how the Question Time format could be improved. ‘We were selected as one of 45 regional finalists and we then staged a mini Question Time debate, which we filmed. A-level politics students Daniel Quinn 18, Caitlin Shimmin, 18, Chris Cave, 18, and Serena Luff, 17, debated the relationship between the UK and the Isle of Man and whether it should be changed. ‘Our video entry was deemed to be one of the best and we are now in the national finals. ‘Fifteen schools from across the British Isles will be producing their own, full-length versions of the TV programme,’ Mr Core said. ‘Twenty-three St Ninian’s students are involved and they have selected a venue, Douglas Youth Arts Centre in Kensington Road, and are putting together a panel and attracting an audience for the event on Thursday 31 March, with doors opening at 6.30pm.’ Judges from the BBC will attend the event. Two students from each of the four winning schools will work with the Question Time production team, witnessing the making of key editorial suggestions, helping with aspects of the production and coming up with ideas for marketing the programme and publicising it via digital media. Members of the public can apply for tickets for March 31 via the St Ninian’s High School website at www.sch.im/snhs and click on the right hand link to Schools Question Time. ‘One of the main problems with politics today is that people feel excluded. We thought this would be an excellent opportunity to try to get people more people actively involved in public affairs,’ Mr Core said. ‘I am very proud of the students for the hard work they have put into the project so far. They have got this far by dedication, creativity and ability. Having seen what they have produced so far I have no doubt that the final event will be an overall success and will spark debate across the Island.’ Daniel Quinn said: ‘Planning the March 31 event has allowed students of different ages and with different skills to come together and work well as a team. The experience gained from this event will benefit us all. It will provide an excellent opportunity for us to see a wide range of opinions regarding a mixture of local and international matters.’ Ends