STUDENTS at Haberdashers' Monmouth Schools scooped a top award at a Model United Nations (MUN) Conference in Cardiff.

Run by Cardiff University, the three-day conference attracted students from a range of UK schools and universities as well as from schools in the Netherlands, France, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

MUN is a selection of educational activities in which students can learn about international relations and world issues.

Participants, known as delegates, are assigned countries before the conference, along with receiving a topic that their committee will discuss after time is spent researching.

The best-performing students in each group are then given awards at the end of the three days.

South Wales Argus:

Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools’ students at the Model United Nations Conference in Cardiff.

Monmouth had a delegation of 30 students from Years 9 to 12, and they picked up the Best High School Delegation honour, beating Cardiff Sixth Form College and many others in the process.

Fourteen-year-old Monmouth School for Boys’ pupils Oliver Edwards and Oliver Lloyd also received awards for being among the best delegates in their committee.

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Lolah Rogers, a Year 11 pupil at Monmouth School for Girls, represented China in the DISEC (Disarmament and International Security) committee and discussed nuclear proliferation and military arms in the Middle-East.

“It was an amazing opportunity that was informative, exciting and has sparked an interest in politics for me,” said 15-year-old Lolah.

“To receive the award for the most outstanding high school was a major achievement for us because our MUN was the most novice at the conference, having only started in September.”

Kate Bourne, an English and Drama teacher at Monmouth School for Girls, has established the students’ MUN club.

“The MUN equips our students with mediation, analytical and leadership skills, while stressing cosmopolitan values and the interdependence of the modern world,” she said.

“It was an absolute delight to take a group of our students to the conference. They achieved an extraordinary result and I am so proud of the way they threw themselves into things.”