States Assembly school visits in 2025

​​​​Request 738876555

Dear Sir or Madam, as we near the 2026 General Election, I have several questions about the work undertaken by the States Assembly to strengthen participation in politics and elections. 

In July 2025, the States Assembly published an article on social media entitled ‘School’s out for summer’. The article reported that the States Assembly have achieved ‘117 school visits and events’ and ‘over 6,200 young people engaged with local democracy’. Please could you provide some clarification on the number of school visits. 

1) Were all schools in Jersey visited?

2) Do the visits include primary and/or secondary schools? 

3) What is the difference between school visits and events?

4) Please can you list the type of events facilitated. 

5) In addition, please can you clarify the type of activities/events delivered in schools for example, were these assemblies, formalised lessons, pop-up stands or PSHE tutors? 

6) The article also reported that ‘over 6,200 young people engaged with local democracy’. Please can you explain how you define engaged? For example, does this mean exposure, attendance or raising awareness? 

7) Does the States Assembly measure/track the engagement of participation? 

8) What Key Performance Indicators [KPIs] does the States Assembly use to measure/monitor/assess the performance and effectiveness of engagement events?

9) What is the yearly budget for voter engagement events/programmes developed and managed by the States Assembly?

On the 4th December, the States Assembly facilitated two focus group discussions with young people - https://www.vote.je/news/research-seeks-views-of-gen-z-islanders/​ - 4th December 2024 

10) Has the States Assembly published the findings from the two focus group discussions? If not, when will the findings be published?

11) What was the cost of facilitating the two focus group discussions and analysis?

12) Please confirm if this project received ethical approval.

On 10th February 2025, the States Assembly launched a questionnaire to gather views on voting - https://www.vote.je/news/questionnaire/ 

13) Has the States Assembly published the findings collected from the questionnaire? If not, when will the findings be published?

14) What was the response rate for the questionnaire?

15) What are the recommendations from the questionnaire/study?

16) What was the cost of facilitating the questionnaire?

Response

1) Were all schools in Jersey visited?

All primary and secondary schools in Jersey were either visited or attended an event in the States Chamber during the 2024–2025 academic year, with the exception of one primary school which chose to postpone its visit until the next academic year.

2) Do the visits include primary and/or secondary schools?

Yes: both primary and secondary schools.

3) What is the difference between school visits and events?

School visits include tours, lessons, assemblies and workshops as well as opportunities for students to meet and engage with States Members. Events are ‘one-off’ activities that take place throughout the year (such as hosting the Rotary Peace Debate or attending Children’s Day) as well as any visits from international schools. 

4) Please can you list the type of events facilitated.

See response to Question 3 above.

5) In addition, please can you clarify the type of activities/events delivered in schools for example, were these assemblies, formalised lessons, pop-up stands or PSHE tutors?

See response to Question 3 above.  The States Greffe delivered all of the mentioned formats. In addition, meetings took place with school staff to support the delivery of the citizenship curriculum and political education. 

6) The article also reported that ‘over 6,200 young people engaged with local democracy’. Please can you explain how you define engaged? For example, does this mean exposure, attendance or raising awareness?

In this context, “engaged” refers to students who had direct exposure to local democracy (e.g. through in-school visits, assemblies, or educational resources) or who attended an event in person, such as a session in the States Chamber. 

7) Does the States Assembly measure/track the engagement of participation?

Yes. All school visits involve elements of active participation and opportunities for students to reflect on learning. This takes the form of quizzes, recall of prior knowledge, interactive discussions and practical activities that encourage critical thinking. Feedback is collected informally during sessions and formally after visits and events through surveys. The sentiment of feedback expressed is monitored and used to inform future visits as well as training. 

8) What Key Performance Indicators [KPIs] does the States Assembly use to measure/monitor/assess the performance and effectiveness of engagement events?

• Stakeholder feedback from lessons, tours and events

• Digital metrics, including social media engagements and sentiment; QR link clicks; website visitors; dwell time; pages visited; ​video views of States Meetings and Scrutiny Hearings  

• Attendance numbers at events (e.g. Plan to Stand; People’s Debate; Chamber tours; political walking tours)

• Number of third-party organisations engaged

• Feedback from organisations representing minority communities

• Engagements with children and young people

• Competition entries

• Sign-ups to programmes (e.g. Jersey Youth Assembly)

• Volume and accuracy of media reporting

• Survey results (e.g. Jersey Opinion and Lifestyle Survey)

• Engagement with Scrutiny reviews – calls for evidence

9) What is the yearly budget for voter engagement events/programmes developed and managed by the States Assembly?

It is not possible to provide a specific budget for “voter engagement events/programmes”.  All such expenditure is taken from the standard annual operating budget for all Digital and Public Engagement work.  That budget is £100,000 and is used on a variety of matters. 

10) Has the States Assembly published the findings from the two focus group discussions? If not, when will the findings be published?

The findings have not been published. They informed the questionnaires referred to in the questions and responses below.  Publication of the findings is the responsibility of the researcher.   

11) What was the cost of facilitating the two focus group discussions and analysis?

The total cost was £2,340.39.

12) Please confirm if this project received ethical approval.

This project received ethical approval. 

13) On 10th February 2025, the States Assembly launched a questionnaire to gather views on voting - https://www.vote.je/news/questionnaire/​ 

Has the States Assembly published the findings collected from the questionnaire? If not, when will the findings be published?

The States Assembly has not published the findings.  The findings are expected to be published by the researcher in 2025.

14) What was the response rate for the questionnaire?

It is not possible to give a response rate as the questionnaire was promoted via various channels and a defined number of people weren’t invited to participate. 113 people responded to the questionnaire. 

15) What are the recommendations from the questionnaire/study?

The recommendations are the responsibility of the researcher and have not yet been published.  

16) What was the cost of facilitating the questionnaire?

£1,650.

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This response has been issued on behalf of the States Greffe. The States Greffe is responsible for the information held by (and on behalf of) both itself and the States Assembly.  Neither the States Assembly nor the States Greffe form part of the Government of Jersey and the Government was not involved either in the examination and retrieval of any information required for this response, nor in the drafting of the response itself.​​