Years

School Council Trip to Westminster

On Tuesday 8th May, the nine boys who make up the Junior School Council were lucky enough to go on a trip to the Houses of Parliament with Mr. Johnston.  We walked to Mottingham train station where we caught a train to London. This was followed by a brisk ten minute walk along the side of the River Thames where we caught our first sighting of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

The first building we entered was Portcullis House where there was a security check.  Portcullis House is a new building situated across the road from the Houses of Parliament where the Members of Parliament have their offices.  We were then taken through an old Victorian tunnel to get to Parliament where we were taken to a meeting room.  Whilst there, we were told facts about the Houses of Parliament such as there are 646 MPs of which less than a quarter are women and approximately half of the MPs represent the Labour Party.  We were told about the ‘Beast of Bolsover’, a Labour MP called Dennis Skinner who liked to stir trouble and give the Prime Minister a hard time during debates in the House of Commons.  We learnt that there are two ‘Houses’.  The House of Commons is made up of MPs who have been chosen to represent their areas (constituency) and their political party.  These people are voted in by the general public.  To be able to sit in the House of Lords, you need to have done something good such as charitable work and then be asked to join by the Prime Minister. These two areas are clearly marked out by the colour of the carpet and the seats.  The House of Commons is green and The House of Lords is red.

We were split into two groups and were lucky enough to have a tour of Parliament.  It was really exciting to see and stand exactly where Tony Blair and David Cameron stand when they have heated debates every Wednesday during Prime Minister’s Question Time.  There are cameras and microphones all around the two rooms so that the debates can be shown on TV.  There is a gallery where members of the public can go to watch but you now have to sit behind glass panels as a few years ago some people threw flour and eggs at Tony Blair!

The Queen visits the House of Lords once a year to re-open Parliament after its summer break.  However, the Queen is not allowed into the House of Commons at all!  This is because in 1642, King Charles 1 and his army stormed Parliament to arrest five MPs who dared disagree with him.  Luckily they got away but it was then ruled that Kings and Queens would not be able to enter the Commons so that the MPs were able to speak their minds freely. 

After visiting the shop to buy souvenirs, we went through to Westminster Palace Hall.  This is one of the oldest sections as a lot of the building suffered damage during the wars.   The Courtyard outside is where Guy Fawkes was hung, drawn and quartered after his attempt to blow up Parliament.

We then walked back to the train station and boarded a train back to school.  This was a thoroughly enjoyable day out and I learnt a lot of things which have definitely made me more interested in politics.  Who knows, maybe I could become Prime Minister.  I could lower taxes and, let me think…………….ban homework!

Toby Hunt 6MO

Year Six Trip to the Geffrye Museum

On Tuesday 27th February, Year 6 went to the Geffrye Museum in East London. When we first went in to the Geffrye museum, we sorted ourselves in to groups. We had a tour guide called Sarah who took us into our first workshop where we looked at how things have changed from the 1930’s, 1960’s and the 1990’s. For example: phones and records.  After looking at all of the objects, we had a chance to draw them. After that, we looked at how some objects in rooms and how they have evolved over time.  I would recommend the Geffrye to anyone with an interest for the past.
To be honest, we were not looking forward to it, but it was actually a very fun trip.

By James Riley, 6JG

Year Six Trip to the Globe Theatre

On the 28th February Year 6 went to The Globe Theatre in London.We were taken down some stairs into a big room by our guide, Lara, where we were going to do some acting, so that when we went up to the actual stage we wouldn’t just stand there. We first went into a circle and did a clapping game and then after that we had to get into partners.  I was Austin’s. Then she told us to sort out who was A, and who was B.  I was B which meant that I was Lady Macbeth and Austin was Macbeth.  We did a bit of acting, practising our lines, and then we had a little talk about the Globe while we were waiting for another group to finish on the stage.  Then it was our turn!  When we went on the stage the lady took us behind the scenes to the tiring room to see where the actors changed their costumes.   After that we went out onto the stage to do our bit of acting.  It was quite scary because other schools were watching us!

After lunch we went off in our groups to the exhibition part of the museum where we had a question sheet to fill in. At the museum I heard that only school trips were allowed to go up onto the stage so we were very lucky to go up there. Once we had filled in the sheet we went to the shop.

I really enjoyed our trip to The Globe because it was fun going up onto the stage.  

By Thomas Bassett, 6JG

Year Five Trip to the Museum of London - The Roman Workshop

When we got to school at 8:30 in the morning, Mr. Johnston ran through what we were going to take and reminded us what group we are in. All the children were eager to get on the coach but the coach was late. Mrs. Chamberlain asked us a couple of questions about the Romans. Finally the coach came then we set off.

At 10:30 we arrived at the museum of London. When we went inside, Mrs. Chamberlain then told us what activities we were going to do at what times. I was in Mrs. De Maid’s group and we set off to the gallery to do the first page of our booklet, we had to draw what an old Roman comb looked like and what it was made. We drew what a stringil looked like and again write the materials it was made of and a couple of other old rotted Roman objects which they used in their daily life.After that we went to see an actor portraying a Roman. He told us about Roman houses, Roman names and told us the story of Julius Caesar. He told us that if we had one name you would be a Roman slave, if you had two names you are a free person and if you had three names you were a Roman citizen. Mr. Johnston thought he was special because he had four names, However, it turned out that he would have been a slave that has been to Rome.

Then we went to see a model where people are doing Roman jobs. In the model there was a Roman village and Roman people doing all sorts of Roman jobs, such as logging, shipping and building. Finally, it was lunchtime; we went to eat our lunches in the eating room. When we finished we went to the shop. I bought a Roman postcard for our History lesson.

When we finished at the shop the whole of our group got one raffle ticket each. Finally we went on the coach and went back to the school. I really enjoyed my time at the museum of London and had lots of fun. I was glad to know that if I were a person from Rome I would be a free person.

Karan Agarwal, 5RJ

Junior School Ski Trip

The Junior School ski trip party recently returned from a week in Serre Chevalier, France. Mr O'Dwyer, Mr Poole, Mrs Chamberlain and 23 boys were blessed with a bumper snow fall followed by glorious sunshine. Professional instructors took the boys for four hour of lessons a day during which time the entire group made huge strides with their confidence and ski technique. An evening programme of après ski activities including bum boarding, ice skating, quiz nights were well received by the boys who participated in them whole heartedly. The boys were complemented on their manners and good behaviour by all who came across them. They were excellent ambassadors to the school.

Mr O'Dwyer 6MO