On the 4th of May, Year 5 children from Springfield Academy in Darlington travelled to the Houses of Parliament, for an educational visit following a successful bid to fund the trip.
No Cost to Parents
As a school who are passionate about poverty proofing, Springfield wanted to ensure that the trip would be available to all children and at no cost to parents. The Houses of Parliament Education centre fund the full cost of the tour and workshop, but can only subsidise up to fifty percent of travel. With stretched budgets, the trip was in danger of being cancelled until they approached Schools North East who introduced them to one of our Commercial Supporters, the Edwin Group
Kelly McManus, Year 5 Class Teacher at Springfield said:
“We are also passionate about building confidence and cultural capital through opportunities and aspirational experiences! We were absolutely resolute that the children from the North East of England should not be disadvantaged by living so far from the capital city, and determined to make the trip happen. The vast majority of year 5 had never visited London before. It was clear that we would have to raise the rest of the money, as budgets are tight and travel is expensive! Through the kind support of The Edwin Group and Councillor McEwan providing the additional funding required, we were able to secure the booking and prepare for the learning!”
Are we nearly there yet?
Before the trip, Year 5 conducted lots of preparatory work, learning the geography of the City, all about the landmarks and culture. They also studied how parliament and the government works, how laws are made and we practised our debating skills.
Meeting at Darlington Station, early in the morning, the children were excited and a little nervous! Some of the children had never travelled by train, with many never being so far from home and certainly not to London. Wearing hi-vis vests, red caps and huge smiles, they boarded the train. It was not long before the cries of ‘are we nearly there?’ came, shortly followed by requests to tuck into packed lunches! At 11, staff relented and the children enjoyed their lunch as they watched the miles go by.
Arriving at King’s Cross caused much excitement, the children could not believe that they were actually in London and in the same station as Harry Potter! A short walk led the school to the coach they’d booked to take them to Westminster.
Kelly added:
“It was an amazing part of the day for the staff, as we could hear the wonder in the children’s voices as they spotted landmarks or simply observed the culture. Being so close to the Coronation meant that there were many additional decorative features and a real atmosphere of celebration. The children could hardly contain themselves as they passed the London Eye and arrived just outside the Houses of Parliament.”
Touring from London
Taking a walk through Victoria Gardens, the students and staff looked across the Thames at the London scene, the children identified many aspects of London life that they had learned in the classroom-consolidating their learning and making it ‘real’. Seeing the life and traffic on the water led to geographical discussions about the physical features and human usage.
Revisiting knowledge from year 4, the children discussed the Thames from source to sea, leading to observations about how near London was to the coast of England. Showing some excellent ‘sticky knowledge’ they were also able to recall facts about the ‘Great Fire of London’ and question the proximity of Pudding Lane to Westminster.
Prior to their Parliamentary visit, Springfield had time to walk around the outside of Westminster Abbey and observe the preparations for the Coronation. They saw some amazing costumes and even passed the Archbishop of Canterbury on his way to worship! Taking time for an individual picture of each child outside the Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben), they then headed for the education centre.
Tour of Parliament
After strict security checks, the school began their tour of Parliament and it was so worth every effort they had made to get there. The building was spectacular, the tour guides were so experienced and excellent with the children. They were impressed with how knowledgeable the children were and loved their enthusiasm.
During the tour, students and staff got to visit areas not open to the general public and stand in the King’s robing room. The children could not believe that Queen Victoria’s throne had not been sat on since her death! Both the Houses of Commons and Lords were amazing and the children learned so much about the changes to the peerage system and how laws are made.
A few of the children were given a real government White Paper, on internet safety, to hold, that is about to be committed to law. One of the children said:
“I can’t believe I am holding a real law before it is even a law!”
It really resonated with him that he was holding a piece of history. Outside of the House of commons the children found the name of Peter Gibson – MP for Darlington – who had helped the school with their bid.
Once the tour was complete, the children took part in a fantastic workshop on Law and order. It was great fun and practical in nature. The children got to act out different roles in the government and to debate about whether homework should be banned. Their responses made the staff so proud, with some of the children making speeches that made even the staff at the centre emotional. They spoke of how important education was with one child saying:
“‘We have to work hard to improve our knowledge, so that we can make a better life for ourselves, so that we can have better choices in life and better jobs”
Another member of the class stated:
“It is important that we have sticky knowledge so that we learn things because we need to have knowledge to do well in life and to have choices.”
It was clear that the children gained so much from the workshop and they loved exploring the Houses of Parliament. Once the workshop was complete, they headed back to the bus, with tired but no less enthusiastic children on the way back to the station. Boarding the train armed with happy meals and happy children, the group set off for home.
During the day, many members of the public and staff on the train complimented the children on their behaviour. Considering how few children had been to London, or on such a long trip, they were amazing and all made fabulous memories.
On the way home, the class reflected on the trip with many saying it was ‘one of the best days ever!’ One boy said:
“All through the day, I marvelled at so many things, it is hard to pick the best bit- I just loved it all.”
When asked if he would like to be Prime Minister he added:
“‘I think I might one day or maybe speaker of the house!”
Other children commented on how they could now be members of the House of Lords, if they became leaders in their field of work- so it was most definitely aspirational.
The staff worked so hard to ensure that the trip was a success. both school, local government staff and those at the education centre. This potentially life changing trip would not have been possible without the travel subsidy from the education centre and the kind support from The Edwin Group and Councillor McEwan.
When year 5 were asked to give the trip a score out of ten, there was a resounding 10/10 and when asked if they would like to go again the response was:
“Can we go tomorrow?”
Kelly added:
“Arriving back safely in Darlington Station, staff felt so much pride for our children, they modelled each one of our school values and were a credit to us and their parents. Many of them watched the Coronation on TV that weekend and were able to say: ‘We were there…’
Memories made and future leaders inspired.”
Springfield Academy is a Schools North East Partner School. If you’d like to find out more about our Partner School Programme click here.
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