Humanities
History
YEAR 9 GIFTED AND TALENTED TRIP TO THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM AND WATER TREATMENT PLANT
The day started with us getting on a Reg's coach, and thirty minuets later we arrived at Northwood Synagogue, Northwood. When we arrived we went upstairs and discussed reasons and causes of the discrimination of the Jews in Nazi Germany. Then we had muffins, I had chocolate, it was nice. Then we listened to Freddie Knoller, a holocaust survivor.
He had escaped from Austria to Belgium, and then taken prisoner in France to escaping to ‘the naughty part of Paris’. He then trained in the French resistance then he survived Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen and forced to help build V2 rockets. His stories were amazing, he even played the cello.
In the afternoon, we went to a high security water museum in Bushey. We had our lunch and then were guided round by a man and a woman (who was coincidentally called Christie Laing.) The oxygen tank was -100 degrees, enough to give you frostbite and to leave skin. We were then shown around the facilities which were very interesting. The security was very tight. Once two boys jumped over the fence, and three minutes later were lying face down on the floor with machine guns to their heads.
Then we went back to school and had an hour long maths test. Wow.
By M. Lawrie
After having clambered aboard the coach, we settled in relative comfort for an approximated 45 minute journey to first destination; Northwood Synagogue. On arrival, we were greeted first by a facilitator, and then formally by a rabbi. We then split into groups to discuss the holocaust, what it is and why it happened. I found this to be a most insightful session which could help us in later life. We then descended the steps and took seats in the prayer hall after some light refreshments. Freddie Knoller, the holocaust survivor, was then welcomed by the rabbi. I shall not disclose many details of his talk in case you should wish to partake in this trip in the future. His words left a strong impression and I would strongly recommend this trip to any of you who may be interested in Word War II.
Following a short drive, we arrived at Veolia high security water treatment centre. The security measures in place were immense and I was at first surprised that they were going to let us in. We were first talked to by a female worker who introduced us to the concept of water treatment and water usage. After this, we were given a guided tour around the site, observing tanks of liquid oxygen, ozone pipes, water, solid carbon and super computers. I would highly recommend this trip to any budding scientist or geographer.
By T Brophy
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.”
Written by Mrs Wright with contributions from J Morgan, J Ijieh, J Connolly, A Rebello and K Lemon
