Highlands & Islands MSP visits Nairn Academy alongside MSYP

Emma Roddick MSP and Mollie McGoran, Vice-Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament and MSYP for Inverness and Nairn, visited Nairn Academy to meet with the Head-Teacher, Deputy-Head Teacher, and pupils.

Roddick and McGoran got the opportunity to meet with the English National 5 class and the Pupil Council to discuss how their experiences at school, how they are feeling about the coming year, and hear more about their feelings on the re-development of the Academy’s long-awaited rebuild which is projected to be delivered by the end of 2025.

Commenting on the visit, Roddick said:

“Youth engagement is really important to me so I jump at any opportunity I can to meet young people and try and get them speaking up about their experiences and what they think of politics, which is why it was great to have Mollie along with me today too.

“We spoke a lot with the pupils about how young people can get more involved in politics and as the youngest MSP in Parliament, visiting with the Vice-Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament and their local MSYP, I hope that we were able to show them that youth representation in politics is important and that their concerns and experiences are listened to.

“I was keen to visit in August because being a student over the past couple of years has undoubtedly been rough with the pandemic and studying from home, so I can see how many of them might not have felt seen or listened to for a while. “It was great to hear though that the re-development of the school is giving them a lot of energy and enthusiasm for their education. One of the pupils even said that they think it will improve behaviour across the student body because it will no longer feel like they’ve been forgotten, but that they’re being invested in instead.”