St Cedd’s School Pupils Quiz the Prime Minister at Downing Street Press Conference

On Tuesday 18 February 2025, pupils from St Cedd's School went to 10 Downing Street to question Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on issues that mattered to them.

34 students aged 9 to 12, from 9 schools, questioned the Prime Minister at the heart of Westminster on topics including housing and healthcare, sports pitches and music lessons, and even what he liked to do when he was young.

Before sitting down with the Prime Minister, the children were given a tour of No 10. They saw historic parts of the building, like the Cabinet Room, and even met another famous resident, Larry the Cat.

The press conference was posted online by No 10 Downing Street and is being reported in First News, the UK’s only children’s newspaper, and on FYI, the award-winning weekly news show from Sky Kids and Sky News presented ‘by kids for kids’.

Emma, aged 10, from St Cedd’s School on New London Road, asked what the government was doing to make sure schools protected arts subjects as well as core subjects like maths. The Prime Minister reflected on his own experience learning an instrument, saying it gave him a “lifelong love of music.” He added the subject was “really important, because I think there’s a lot of joy in music, there’s a lot of joy in learning how to play an instrument, and that will stay with you for life.”

At the end of the press conference, the Prime Minister turned the tables, asking the children what they liked best about their tour of Downing Street. They discussed the history of the building, including prime ministerial portraits hung on the main staircase and furniture used by Winston Churchill.

FYI News Club is one of a number of lunchtime and after-school clubs run by St Cedd’s School to enrich pupils’ learning experience.