In June a group of our Year 12 History and Politics students visited London.

Their first stop was the Palace of Westminster for a tour around the building. With the general election just around the corner, MPs had gone home and the Palace was fairly empty! This meant that the group were able to have a rare access-all-areas tour and were able to stand among the benches of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. This was a wonderful opportunity to experience what our political system is like for those who work amongst it every day! They also learned about the history of the building and the traditions of our democracy.

The group then visited the Education Department for a workshop in which they selected a cause and discussed how they would get their message across in a campaign. Our students chose to campaign about matters close to their hearts: a second EU referendum, tackling racism in the public sector and potholes!

From Parliament, the students were led on a sightseeing tour past Downing Street, Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square. From there, they went to the Tower of London to assist the History students in their upcoming non-examined assessment. Here they learned about the construction of the White Tower and its defensive features as well as getting a glimpse of the crown jewels!