What a week at Hollinwood Academy! Our student councillors and peer mentors set off early on Tuesday morning for London to visit Parliament. This was an amazing experience and Miss Gordon is delighted to share the highlights with you..

Tuesday 20th November, wow, what a day to remember!
We travelled in style, although it took a while, but the bus was the comfiest ever..

With a toilet on board if we needed a wee
No expense spared, we were travelling VIP!

The students arrived before 7am
Eager and ready to visit Big Ben
Miss Gordon was anxious, where was the bus?
Miss Dunne whispered quietly, do not fuss
And there it arrived at 7 on the dot, Miss Gordon relieved they hadn’t forgot

We boarded the bus and much to our approval,
We had leather seats, wifi and a table
Logan and Taylor headed straight to the back
Macaulay and Grace delved into their snack

Chants of ‘Are we there yet, when will we stop?’
‘Won’t be long now’, reassures Miss Prescott
Two hours went by and it was time for a break
Stocked up on sugar to keep us awake

Miss Wheeler and Alex headed straight for McDonalds breakfast
Neive wanted fries, but they didn’t sell them until half past
Ethan and Thomas played UNO with Miss Dunne,
Mr Valentine and Solomon soon joined in with the fun

Cutting it fine, we arrived in Westminster
Dreary and wet, no sign of the Prime Minister

We explored the House of Commons and discussed rules of law
In a personal debate Alex gave us what for

After the tour we were invited to debate, some were excited others couldn’t wait
Alex protested he was bored to tears, Macaulay admitted he only came for the souvenirs
And so we decided to split the group into two
Debating was not what everyone wanted to do

Mr Valentine and Miss Dunne headed out in the rain
They missed a great debate which was a real shame
Grace offered to be the chair
While Neive had lots of opinions she was eager to share

Neive gave a great speech and did herself proud
Standing tall and confident and speaking out loud
Ethan and Thomas along with Ryan P, chose to debate in a group of three

Ciara and Caitlin were ready for food
Alex made it clear he was not in the mood.
Taylor and Logan wanted to explore
Solomon too, he’d not been to London before

Soon everyone became weary of the great English weather
Some had enough and were at the end of their tether
Stuck in a puddle, poor Gabriella
No thermal, or waterproofs, not even an umbrella
Too wet to walk, too cold to stand
All in agreement it was time for homeward bound

All in all we had a good trip, safe to say it was time for a kip
The walk to the bus felt like forever
November the 20th ~ a day to remember!

I am so proud of all 13 pupils who attended this trip. Some found it challenging in parts, however they coped extremely well. This experience will stay with them forever. I believe every pupil has taken something from the trip, whether that be the development of a personal skill such as empathy, resilience, inner strength, patience, tolerance or the experience itself of the visit to London.

Well done to you all and thank you for being a credit to not only yourselves but to our school too! I would not hesitate to take you on a trip again.

Miss Gordon

You can find out what Mrs Millard and Miss Dunne had to say about our amazing day here!