Luton pupils learn all about Russian invasion of Ukraine during Foreign Office visit

A group of seven Year 7 pupils from Moorlands Grammar School in Luton were invited to the Foreign Office to put their questions to UK intelligence expert Gill Bennett OBE.

The invite came after pupils at the school had been discussing and debating items in the news and said they wanted to learn more about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, how intelligence was gathered and what might happen in the future.

Headteacher Andrew Cook contacted the Foreign Office and seven 11- to 12-year-olds from the school on High Street in Leagrave, spent a couple of hours in the historic headquarters of the Foreign Office.

On arrival, and having gone through security, the pupils were given a full, one-hour tour of the Foreign Office, including Foreign Secretary Liz Truss’s floor, and were told all about the building’s long history.

They were then shown into a conference room where intelligence expert Gill Bennett answered their questions, including was there a risk of the UK being dragged into a war with Russia, fears over the use of nuclear weapons and how is intelligence analysed to decide how reliable it is?

Mr Cook said: “The pupils were given free rein about what to discuss and they found it fascinating.

"They were quite overwhelmed by the building but they liked the idea that they got detailed answers to their questions and they came back to report it to the rest of the class.”