On Thursday the 9th of January, our students at Dunbroch school went on an exciting trip to the Houses of Parliament in London. We started the day with a fun ride on the Tube, which gave everyone a chance to see the city.
This included seeing the famous London Eye and Big Ben.
After going through security, we met our friendly tour guide who taught us about how Parliament works. Our first stop was Westminster Hall, a special place where important royal events happen, funerals and weddings. Then we visited the Central Lobby and even got into the background of a live news report. This excited the students as they got to wave in the background.
A highlight of the trip was watching live debates in both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The students were captivated by the discussions and the energy of the debates, which were broadcast live on television, offering them a real-time glimpse into the democratic process.
We finished our day with a nice packed lunch in Westminster, where everyone shared their thoughts about what they learned.
This trip helped our students understand more about British history and government, and we look forward to more adventures like this in the future!
Martha & Gemma (Dunbroch School Staff/ Trip leads)
A few words from two of our students!
‘’On the 9th of January 2025 we went to visit the Houses of Parliament. I think this trip was amazing! We first went into the education centre to meet our tour guide Nathan. He then took us on an amazing tour around Westminster Hall, we then went into St. Stephen’s Hall where I sat next to the statue that two women chained themselves to in protest. Our next stop was central lobby where the entrances to the House of Commons and House of Lords is.
This is where we found out we were able to go into the gallery of both the Houses of Commons and Lords. In the House of Commons, they were debating violence against women and girls. In the House of Lords, they were debating how to preserve energy.
Those two parts were my favourite as well as on our way back to the tube where I got to take a picture with Emmeline Pankhurst who was a famous suffragette. (A woman who protested for the women’s rights to vote). I had an amazing day and even would like to go back and sit in on more debates and meetings.’’
‘’On Thursday 9th January 2025 we went to Westminster Hall where the Queen Elizabeth herself laid in her coffin for several days along with her parents and grandparents. The next room was St. Stephen’s Hall with statues of people who were part of the parliament way back.
Our tour guide told us about the female protester Margery Hume who walked in with chains under her arms and chained herself to the statue of Viscount Falkland. The bolt cutters were found and used to remove Margery.
The damage that the cutters did during the forcible removal is still visible to this day. We then went to the central lobby where we made our way into the House of Commons where they debated about violence against women and girls. The house of lords was next to where they were debating abut energy bearing in mind this was all live and on TV’’
