Year 5 and 6 pupils from St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School embarked on a thrilling school trip to visit some London sights yesterday (June 29).
The adventure started with a train journey full of excitement and anticipation for what fun lay ahead, when they reached the capital. After disembarking at Stratford International Station, the children made their way to the DLR station to take a journey to Royal Victoria, where they boarded cabins on the Emirates Cable Car. They crossed the Thames and took in the unique and breath-taking views of London’s captivating skyline from a 90m height.
The memorable flight to Greenwich Peninsula took approximately 10 minutes and the children pointed out Canary Wharf, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Shard, The O2, the Thames Barrier, Maritime Greenwich and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park during their crossing. At around 90 metres high, the Emirates Air Line cable car is the highest observation point over the River Thames spanning over 1km between Greenwich Peninsula (for The O2) and the Royal Docks.
Once they had made the journey across the river, the children took a short walk to the North Greenwich pier where they embarked on a Thames Clipper boat. The children enjoyed a 45 minute cruise along one of the most renowned rivers in the world – where they were able to see the 02 Arena, the Cutty Sark, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast, the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament.
They disembarked at Westminster pier and then proceeded along Parliament Street and onto Whitehall, passing the Cenotaph and 10 Downing Street. The walking tour then took in Horse Guards Parade and a view of Trafalgar Square, before a rest stop in St James Park.
The last viewpoint was of Buckingham Palace, before the children walked the last leg of their tour of London back to Victoria Station. A calm and restful train journey home followed, along with lots of talk about their exciting day viewing the sights in the capital city.
The trip was part funded by the KCC Reconnect scheme. Reconnect is a Kent County Council led, community based programme designed to get Kent’s children and young people thriving following the pandemic.
Trip organiser, David Pasola, Year 5 Lead said: “The trip to London enabled our children to see sights that they have only ever seen on television or read about in books. They were able to experience a cable car and a trip along the river, which was a new experience for many of our children. We are very fortunate to have been able to provide the trip with the assistance of the Reconnect Programme.
“For many children this will have been their first time going on a train or to our capital city, as the pandemic had stopped trips like this occurring. The children showed all of our school values during the day – belonging, team work, caring, respect and most importantly enjoyment.”
The children expressed their thoughts on the trip:
Imogen said: “I like the boat trip, it was a great way to travel – in comfort and still see some of the best London sights!”
Rosie said: “The cable car ride was amazing, I’m not sure everyone in my pod felt the same! There were some very white faces.”
Tiernan added: “It was the furthest we’d ever been on a school trip. I really enjoyed seeing HMS Belfast – it was much smaller than I imagined.”
