G7: Cornwall school pupils take part in mock summit

Pupils from St Ives School said the mock summit was fun and interesting

Pupils have staged their own mock G7 summit in the same room used by world leaders.

About 25 young people from St Ives School met at the Carbis Bay Hotel on Monday where 24 hours earlier Boris Johnson had hosted politicians from the G7 group of nations.

The pupils split into groups, each taking on the role of a country.

They negotiated to agree a "students communiqué" that they would be putting forward if they were world leaders.

The mock document read: "Following intense discussions on protecting oceans, G7 leaders agree to creating marine conservation zones, developing electrical vessels, including through locally-sourced materials, transitioning to biodegradable fishing nets and reducing plastic pollution, including through taxation."

There was also a series of annexes, one of which was "whaling is bad".

Students took part in a mock G7 summit in the room used by world leaders at the Carbis Bay Hotel

Pupils said the event, organised by the Future Leaders Network, was "fun" and "interesting".

Elizabeth, one of those who took part, said: "It is an amazing opportunity to be where the world leaders were.

"No matter where your stance is on it, it is still really quite an experience to have, and to think this is where the most powerful people in the world were sat."

Sophie Daud, chief executive of the Future Leaders Network, said it was important for students to build skills for the future.

She said it was also important that they were "seeing that this event which seems really exclusive, that seems really distant ... that has disrupted their town, is actually so relevant to them and they are learning about how they can take part in it and they are learning about how their voice can be heard."