Year 6 Pupils Visit London Town!

YEAR 6 PUPILS FROM CHRIST COLLEGE’S JUNIOR SECTION, ST NICHOLAS HOUSE, HAD A WONDERFUL FEW DAYS IN LONDON JUST BEFORE HALF TERM.

Year 6 had a fantastic few days in London the week before February half term.

Following on from work in the classroom, pupils were able to experience first-hand some of the sights of London.

Arriving at Portcullis House in Westminster our boys and girls met the MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, Chris Davies. The children had prepared questions beforehand and he answered these before heading for an appointment with the Prime Minister at Prime Minister’s Question Time in the House of Commons chamber. Before he did this, he took the party to the base of Big Ben where lots of photos were taken by the group. Once Mr Davies had left, his assistant, James, led a tour of the inside of the Palace of Westminster. He even showed the boys and girls a secret door leading to the Queen’s private lavatory in her Robing Room, where she prepares for the State Opening of Parliament. Tickets were obtained for the public gallery to watch a debate on Policing and a few well-known faces such as Shadow Home Secretary, Andy Burnham, were spotted. After a delicious lunch in Parliament, the children headed along Whitehall, past the Cenotaph, Downing Street and Horse Guards Parade and up to Trafalgar Square for lots more photo opportunities.Running around and clambering on the plinth beneath Nelson’s Column was a big hit.

Just around the corner was The National Portrait Gallery where they were able to get up close to the famous Tudor Portraits, not to mention Henry VIII and his wives. They were spectacular and so very detailed. A look around a photography exhibition rounded off the visit nicely before heading up towards Leicester Square and through China Town. There was a fantastic atmosphere as Chinese New Year was well underway. The smells, sounds and sights gave everyone quite an appetite and so with rumbling tummies, they hot-footed it to the Rainforest Café for an evening meal. Inside the jungle surroundings, thunder and lightning, monkeys, elephants and gorillas, the party enjoyed a delicious meal and a chance to rest their feet! Desserts followed before walking to the New London Theatre to see the very entertaining ‘War Horse’; many people’s favourite part of the day.

That evening they settled in to their Hotel and got a well needed rest from the excitement of the day.

Day two saw the pupils and staff experiencing a taste of the embankment. The London Eye was as impressive as ever and the clear skies enabled them to see for miles and miles in the distance. A Thames River Cruise was next where they learnt so much about London from the comfort of the boat. They travelled under several bridges including Tower Bridge and saw many sights such as HMS Belfast, The Globe, The Tower of London, The Tate Modern and much, much more.

Lunch on the embankment was followed by a look around the London Aquarium ‘Sea-Life’ where the boys and girls walked over a glass floor with sharks beneath their feet! The aquarium was fantastic and they loved the chance to hold starfish and get nose to nose with alligators (through glass fortunately!).

On the last afternoon, they walked up the embankment and met up with the Year 8 group who were also visiting London, before walking across Millennium Bridge back towards the coach.

The children really benefited from being away as a year group together and were amazed at just how much they learnt and experienced in the two days. They were a credit to themselves, and the school and they will surely be talking about this trip for years to come.