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Reading Champions

On the 10th July, the Reading Champions enjoyed their celebration event at Dukinfield Town Hall. The event was organised by Tameside Libraries and the children were lucky enough to have That Poetry Bloke - Craig Bradley entertain them.

On the 28th June 2024, the School Council visited the Houses of Parliament to learn about how democracy works. It was a slightly unusual time to visit as the house was not sitting due the election that was due to be held the following Thursday.

We travelled down to Euston from Manchester Piccadilly on the 0635 train. From the train it was straight on to the Northern Line (first time on a tube for many of the children) to Embankment and from there we walked past the London Eye and New Scotland Yard before we saw Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

Sadly, you are not allowed to take pictures inside the Houses so we do not have any pictures of what we did. However, the children saw the Throne Room where the King puts on his robes ready for delivering his speech. We then travelled through the House of Lords and saw the throne the King sits on to read his speech to the Lords. The children listened intently as it was explained that the House of Lords is full of selected experts whose job it is to check on the Government.

From there, we moved into the central lobby, where the press mingle and the public are allowed to 'lobby' MPs and persuade them to introduce the bills of law they would like passing.

We then went into the 'No' Division Lobby where MPs walk through after a vote in the House. Here they are counted and the speaker then announces the results in the House. The children were able to sit on the benches in these chambers and could look at the old Hansard books stored detailing all of the discussions in the House.

We then walked into the House from behind the Speaker's Chair and stood on the opposition benches. Here, our guide reminded us that there are 650 MPs and they are there to represent us, the people. We also learnt about how the benches face each other and MPs must 'toe the line' so they will not risk sword battles.

After this, we walked into the oldest part of Westminster, Westminster Hall. It was explained to the children that many world famous people had stood exactly where they were and addressed the Houses - I am not sure the appreciated some of the names. This was also where the late Queen had laid in state in September 2022.

Our Final activity in the House was to return to the Education Centre and have a debate in our own mini House of Commons chamber. This involved selecting our own Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. We debated whether smoking should be banned immediately or people should be given notice. The children really got into this and the benches were full off 'Hear, Hear' and disapproving grumbles, depending on their viewpoint.

We then had our lunch outside Westminster Abby and next to the statue of Winston Churchill. During this time, we took small groups to the Souvenir Shop. It was very very busy at this time.

After lunch, we walked down Birdcage Walk and past the Horse Barracks to arrive at Buckingham Palace. A few photos here and then down the Mall. We stopped off for a quick run around in the park - the children only, the staff were shattered!

Our next stop was supposed to be Trafalgar Square to see the fountains and Nelson's Column but this was being prepared and so was out of bounds. We turned down Whitehall and watched the Horse Guards for a few minutes - always impressive.

We were due at Downing Street at 2.30pm but arrived a few minutes early. We passed through security and before we knew it, we were stood outside one of the most iconic front doors in the world. We explained who lived there and the Police chatted with us. We had our photographs taken and then the children sat on the kerb and chatted - a picture we have shared that I think is fantastic.

From Downing Street, we headed over Westminster Bridge (stopping for a sneaky, and incredibly expensive, ice cream) before heading past the London Eye to watch some street theatre. The magician was very funny.

Next. it was back over the river and onto the Northern Line and up to Warren Street, where the children experienced the highlight of the trip - tea at McDonalds! 

Finally, a walk from Warren Street to Euston and onto our train. You would think the children would be tired, instead we played cards all of the way home.

A fantastic day out with lots of experiences and new learning.

A huge congratulations to Robyn who designed the winning flag entry which is flying high over Audenshaw Memorial Gardens.  We are so proud to have a pupil from our school design the flag for an important feature of our local community.  Congratulations and well done!