History

YEAR 9 GIFTED AND TALENTED TRIP TO THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM AND WATER TREATMENT PLANT

We arrived at the Holocaust museum a little later than expected. When we walked in we were greeted and taken into a room where we had a short discussion about the discrimination of the Jewish people when Hitler rose to power. We were told about how it affected the people of Germany and how the population acted when the government enforced it’s racist policies. After that we made our way into a room where we listened to a Holocaust survivor talk about his dreadful and terribly scarring experience. It was very interesting to listen to him because he told us what we didn’t know from books,but a story that was hidden until that day. When we made our way out of the room I think everyone could agree that they were extremely moved by the fact that he could still carry on with his life after being treated the way he was. We then had a short refreshment break and carried on our discussion before returning to the coach.

Photo from last year's trip.

It was around lunch time when we arrived at the Bushy Water Treatment Centre and by that time we were all getting hungry. We ate our lunch on arrival in an eco-shed which had insulation made of sheep’s wool (and it worked, it was so warm!)We then got a chance to take part in a series of activities, where firstly we got to perform a few interesting experiments which taught us how water is filtered, what kind of toilet paper blocks up your toilet and we also got told about the huge amount of water we use just doing everyday sorts of tasks.

After that the groups swapped over and my group were taken outside (just as the rain started to heavily pour down!) and were taken around the water treatment centre where they taught us all about the machines and how they filter the water that gradually makes its way into our houses. We also learned that apart from the guides going round there is only one person looking after all that water, so no pressure if it goes wrong! When we had finished the tour we met up with the rest of our year and each got given a water bottle before returning to the coach for the journey back to school. It was all great and successful and everyone enjoyed themselves during the day. A trip that should be repeated again and again but without the traffic we were stuck in for hours in the morning!

Written by Bethany Hyne 9ABL and Adrian Wasiolek 9LFD

HISTORY TRIP TO BELGIUM & FRANCE

From the students - The best things - “Going bowling and discovering the town of Ypres”. “Seeing first hand the area of battles and what the trenches looked like. To see the conditions the solders lived in. And to visit another country, which was very nice.” “The best thing about the trip was when I found my name on the Vimy Ridge memorial because the prospect of that person being my ancestor was really exciting.” “Was to see all the monuments of history and visit the museum of Flanders and follow the fact of one soldier with a special card.” “Going in the trenches and seeing what they were like … and the chocolate.”

The saddest things - “I thought the German graveyard was the saddest because they were filled with the bodies of many Germans.” “The saddest part of the trip was the service at the Menin Gate on the last day, because the two minute silence gave us time to reflect on how many people died in the war.” “There was a flower bed in the middle of the graveyard with thousands of bodies buried in it, and many of them were unidentified.” “The amount of graves and hearing about the suffering of the soldiers and civilians, e.g. hearing about gas attacks.” “Seeing all the memorials in Ypres and understanding how many people died.” “The grave of a young 14-year-old soldier who died in the war because he said he was 16.”

The worst things - “The worst thing on the trip was walking over the graves, knowing that there were dead people from the war underneath us.” “The German mass grave where the bodies had literally been piled up. It made me very emotional.”

The most surprising things - “The Canadian and German trenches at Vimy Ridge were quite close together. And I was also surprised by the number of soldiers who didn’t have known graves.” “I was surprised at how many people died. It was more than I expected.” “That there could still be undiscovered bodies underground.”