Our Student Leaders, Heads of School and Kindness Committee were given the fantastic opportunity of visiting the Houses of Parliament. The trip was a thank you to them for all the hard work they have done this year improving the student experience at school. The visit was organised via Mark Sewards who kindly offered, along with two of his colleagues, to give a tour of parliament for our students.
It was an early start as students and staff arrived at school before 4:30am! However, Mr Ross had managed to book the same coach that the Castleford Tigers use for their players which meant they would be travelling down in style! They had their own mini fridge, microwave, tables and even a TV above every group of seats. When they arrived at Parliament Mark gave a fantastic tour which included the Central Lobby, the House of Lords, the voting chambers and Westminster Hall which is almost a thousand years old. The opulent House of Lords chamber was a sight to behold. The end of the tour included the procession of the speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who went into the House of Commons for Prime Minister Kier Starmer’s final Prime Ministers Questions. We will all be interested to see how his successor, Andy Burnham gets on.
After the tour, the students enjoyed a walking tour of some of the tourist hot spots of London, including Big Ben, the London Eye, Downing Street, St James’s Park, Buckingham Palace and Leicester Square. The students coped well with walking in 29 degree heat and were rewarded with a free McDonald’s lunch at the end of it. The coach journey back included a surprise highlight of the trip as Mr Vickers showed his great DJ skills as he played some absolute classics for everyone on the coach to sing along to on the way home.
