Skip to content
  • Follow us
Go to the home page of The St Marylebone CE School
The St Marylebone CE School
  • Home
  • Our School
    • Our School
    • About Us
    • Worship
    • Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
    • Governors
    • Staff
    • House System
    • Student Leadership
    • Anti-Bullying
    • SEND
    • Creativity Collaboratives
    • Fundraising
    • Facilities for Hire
    • Vacancies
    • Inspection Reports
    • Financial Reports
    • Policies and Privacy Statements
  • Admissions
    • Admissions
    • Year 7 Admissions
    • Year 12 Admissions
    • In-Year Admissions
  • Curriculum
    • Curriculum
    • Overview
    • Subjects
    • Assessment
    • Careers
    • Year 9 Key Stage 4 Options
    • KS5 curriculum
  • Extracurricular
    • Extracurricular
    • Overview
    • Timetable
  • Sixth Form
    • Sixth Form
    • Overview
    • KS5 curriculum
    • Enrichment
    • Bursary
    • Dress Code
    • Pastoral Care
    • Leavers’ Destinations
  • Public Exams
    • Public Exams
    • GCSE Results
    • A Level Results
    • Results Days, Enrolment and Exam Arrangements
  • Parents
    • Parents
    • Times of the Day
    • Term Dates 2022/23
    • Term Dates 2023/24
    • Preparing for Year 7
    • Uniform
    • ParentPay
    • Free School Meals
    • Parents’ Evenings
    • Reporting Absence
    • Support & Guidance
    • PTA
  • News
    • News
    • News
    • Weekly Bulletin
    • Calendar
    • Twitter
    • Publications
  • Contact Us

The St Marylebone CE School

An Opportunity to Excel

SMS Model United Nations Conference

Posted: 29 April, 2022

On Friday 1st April (the last day of the spring term) SMS held its first-ever Model United Nations Conference. This event was organised and realised by a very capable and accomplished team of students. Leyya and Marlena in Yr 11 wanted to take their debating to the next level and they petitioned to set up a Model United Nations and International Relations Club. They wanted to be able to discuss world issues and learn how to make a difference. Leyya and Marlena began by writing a club proposal and figuring out how the parliamentary language and rules of procedure work.  Now, as a club, we discuss world issues including; climate change, conflict, international responsibilities and sovereignty, whilst also preparing for conferences.

The first conference the IR and MUN Club attended was the London International Model UN Conference in November. It was an incredible first experience of MUN and a lot of the students involved had a lot of fun! It showed participants how debating in conferences work, as it is different from any other forms of debate or public speaking they had participated in before. Since then the IR and MUN Club attended two more conferences and have two more lined up for this school year!

As the students got to January they decided they wanted to take the next step, and they began to plan their own SMS MUN. This took a lot of work and effort over the two events that needed to be organised. The whole club helped out, and the group effort really made a difference to the outstanding outcome.  

Students first needed to organise a workshop, about a week earlier than the actual event, to help new debaters from all of the schools who were going to attend on the day. The IR and MUN Club sent out all the invitations and the whole club helped set up the school. It really helped a lot of people learn the ropes, and the mock debates which were held in committees were a great opportunity to meet people from different schools. That’s what a lot of people love about MUN, it’s a great place to meet new people and create connections. 

The IR and MUN Club then had to create all the background reading materials, rules of procedure booklets and delegate packs. This took a large amount of work and coordination to ensure everyone had all the research material they needed so that all participants could have a fruitful debate. 

On the day, everyone got to Blandford Street early and started to set up. They made the country packs for each committee, made flags, set up chairs, and prepped committee rooms ready for use. When people started to arrive, it was slightly overwhelming, as they had to work fast and efficiently with a bunch of people. But after the first few schools arrived, they started to get the hang of it and soon enough they were all seated in the hall. We had 7 different schools and over 120 students who attended and participated!

The secretary generals, Marlena and Leyya, gave a wonderful opening speech and we got a special speaker that day, Lana Harper, who is a negotiator for the department of international trade and also does the UK’s free trade agreements with the US, Australia and New Zealand. She specialises in  Technical Barriers to Trade. They try to stop countries’ different regulations and procedures making it hard for UK businesses to export their products. Her speech was inspiring, and she also gave us tips and tricks on being good delegates and using diplomacy to our advantage. Then our Secretary Generals opened the conference and we made our way to the conference rooms

There were 6 committees which were chaired by UCL students and experienced MUNers, and 6 different topics were debated: The Distribution of COVID Vaccinations, Providing Grants to Lower-Income Countries for Sustainable development, Nuclear Non-proliferation, Gender Equality,  Sanctions for Human Rights Violations and the Security Council which discussed the Russia Ukraine conflict and military involvement in Afghanistan.

Over the day, students participated in both formal and informal debates with the aim of writing and passing a resolution. A resolution is the proposed solution given to the problem each committee was debating. This meant there had to be a majority of delegates voting in favour of a resolution in all committees except the Security Council. Like in the UN, there are 5 permanent members of the Security Council: the UK, the United States, Russia, China and France. In this council, these members have a “veto”, which overrules votes, so if any one of these members votes against a resolution, no matter if everyone else votes for it, it won’t pass.

By the end of the day, all committees except the Security Council ended up passing a resolution. As one of the permanent members had used their veto. We wrapped up the day with awards for each committee: Best Delegate, Most Diplomatic and Honourable Mentions. There were speeches from the Chairs and the awards were presented by Ms Pugh. Both us and the students from other schools had a really enjoyable day, meeting new people and learning more about the world! Thank you Mr V, Ms Pugh and all the other teachers who helped out, making this all possible!

The IR and MUN Club would like to encourage all of you to get involved in debating and MUN next year. There are so many opportunities available, and it is time to reach for the stars and make a difference not just for yourself but also for others. 

For many of us, having the opportunity to discuss world issues helps us to think about how we can help the world and to think of solutions to global issues. In trying to maintain peace in committee discussions we have learnt how hard it is for countries to negotiate and reach an agreement on how to best solve these problems. We want our leaders to be able to reach for the stars and find ways to promote peace and avoid conflict, care for our environment and to eradicate poverty, illness and to ensure that everyone has access to education, basic necessities and opportunities for the future. 

However, this is not just the responsibility of our world leaders. We can also play our part. There are many examples of young people helping to solve world issues. Greta Thurburg helped to raise awareness about climate change and challenged governments to act. Malala Yousafsi promoted the rights of women and campaigned for girls around the world to be able to go to school. Maybe you can also reach for the stars and find ways in which you can help make the world a better place.

Posted in News

Post navigation

<< Previous Previous post: Natural History Museum Trip
Next >> Next post: ESU Performing Shakespeare Regional Final
Skip sidebar and go to content

News

  • News
  • Weekly Bulletin
  • Calendar
  • Twitter
  • Publications

High Street Site

The St Marylebone CE School
64 Marylebone High Street
London
W1U 5BA

Tel: 020 7935 4704

​

info@stmaryleboneschool.com

Sixth Form Site

The St Marylebone CE School
14 Blandford Street
London
W1U 4AZ

Tel: 020 7563 9335

©   All rights reserved  2023 | Cookie Policy | Designed by The Education Space
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Cookie Policy
Preferences
Accept AllReject All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
CookieDurationDescription
langThis cookie is used to store the language preferences of a user to serve up content in that stored language the next time user visit the website.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
CONSENT16 years 5 months 8 days 12 hours 17 minutesThese cookies are set via embedded youtube-videos. They register anonymous statistical data on for example how many times the video is displayed and what settings are used for playback.No sensitive data is collected unless you log in to your google account, in that case your choices are linked with your account, for example if you click “like” on a video.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
IDE1 year 24 daysUsed by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile.
test_cookie15 minutesThis cookie is set by doubleclick.net. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysThis cookie is set by Youtube. Used to track the information of the embedded YouTube videos on a website.
YSCsessionThis cookies is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
CookieDurationDescription
yt-remote-connected-devicesneverNo description available.
yt-remote-device-idneverNo description available.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo
Latest News

For weekly information and news, see our Weekly Bulletin and follow us on Twitter.