Student's Vision of the Future wins National History Competition 

Cara Burnett (second from right), was one of seven talented students to win the prestigious Our Vision competition. She won tickets to see the first performance of The People Speak at one of London’s top West End theatres, The Prince of Wales.

The competition, which challenged 7-18 year olds to look at their society and speak out to create change, is part of the new People Speak movement that is encouraging young people to revisit history and see it as social change rather than textbook theory.

The People Speak, featuring Sir Ben Kingsley and Ian McKellen was narrated by Colin Firth, and filmed for a History channel documentary at the end of October. The production brought history to life with unique and powerful live performances from many artists celebrating extraordinary moments in UK history when ordinary people have spoken out for change.  All the artists spoke the words from the voices of our past as written in actual letters, songs, poems, speeches and manifestos.

Cara won tickets for her and her teacher Ann Mutluer, Head of History at Collyer’s, to attend the event and after party with the artists, in recognition of her vision of the future. Cara’s entry in the Our Vision competition for The People Speak, called on today’s society to protect human rights and extend them to others to create a better, fairer future.  A message that was heralded as the best winning entry by the Association for Citizenship Teaching.

Millicent Scott, of the Associaton for Citizenship Teaching, said: “Cara’s piece is a great example of active citizenship: it’s a call to action to other young people to challenge injustice. Cara shows a clear understanding not only of her own role, but also of the role of society and of government. Human rights education is a key part of the citizenship curriculum and it’s great to see a young person express its importance so well.”