Pupils give account of trips
Areebah Maqsood gives his account on the recent Year 7 trip to Central Gurdwara in Manchester:
On Wednesday 18th May, Year 7 went on a trip to the Central Gurdwara in Manchester. We had been studying Sikhism and, after learning a bit about their beliefs, Mrs Murphy (our RS teacher) thought it would be a good idea to visit their holy place of worship, like previous years had done before us. We left the school at 8:30am, and arrived back at school at roughly 4pm.
After the journey in the coach, we finally arrived in Manchester. After a few twists and turns, we saw the orange flag with the symbol of Sikhism. Everyone was so excited! Bobby (our Sikh teacher) led us upstairs once we had washed our hands, taken off our shoes and covered our hair. We learnt about Sikh beliefs and their history. She also told us about the Golden temple in Amritsar, which was fascinating since we hadn’t learnt about it in school. We found out many things about it, including that it is visited by so many people that the volunteers feed 100, 000 people every day!
We also found out other interesting facts. One of them was that the Guru Granth Sahib Ji (the Sikh holy book) is read in the same way as Western people read books (left to right), despite the origin of Sikhism being in India. Half way through the session, we met the high priest of the Gurdwara.
He was wearing the five K’s, another thing Bobby told us about. However instead of a steel wristband (Kara) like Bobby’s, the high priest had an iron wristband. He also wore a turban which was another thing we learned about; 15 feet of material skilfully wrapped around a person’s head in 5 minutes flat!
I learned that different turbans could be wrapped in different ways to suit individual Sikhs, which was something I didn’t know before. I also learned that 99% of people wearing turbans are Sikhs while the other 1% are people in the Middle East to show they are important or at an important event.
I would recommend this trip to everyone. It was not only a very enjoyable experience but it was also extremely educational, even for grown-ups!
Personally, I enjoyed the entire trip, especially the game we played to test what we had learnt and the Langar (free vegetarian curry – delicious!) I also enjoyed it when the high priest played the instruments. I have to admit the journey there felt longer because I was so eager to get to the Gurdwara, but I still recommend it to everyone and I’m sure it would be an unforgettable experience for those who decide to visit.
Year 8 pupil Sydney Johnson gives her account of a recent trip to the Jewish Museum in Manchester:
On Wednesday 18th May year 8 took a 2-hour drive into Manchester to see not only where Jews come together to pray and discover what they might wear and items might use, but also to learn about what it means to be a Jew and find out its traditions, history and past.
We started off at the Manchester Cathedral in which Christians–or anyone who was interested- may come together to celebrate special days, hold services and pray.
We were split into two groups and away we went. My group were shown a place where a bomb had destroyed many of the windows.
We were shown where the choir would sing and I myself was fortunate enough to be chosen to dress up as a minister!
Then we were told about the different clothes worn by the minister at different times of the church year. Many of us even got the opportunity to try on the different coloured vestments.
Following lunch at the cathedral, we then headed off to our final destination, the Jewish Museum.
The Jewish Museum had originally been built as a synagogue in the 1800’s but after over 100 years in existence it was made into a museum about 30 years ago.
We played several games to test our knowledge of Judaism and also add to what we already knew. These games involved being able to move around the building including both the bottom and top floors.
After many questions were answered, it was time to set off homewards (not before we raided the gift shop of course).
On our return to school, it struck me just how lucky we were to be in a position where we were able to go on wonderful trips and experience different cultures and beliefs all in one day.
Sarah Nuzam, a co-ordinator at World Action in Methodist Schools, visited us on Wednesday, May 4, where she spent time at both senior and prep schools.
After speaking at a whole school chapel service, the ambassador visited the prep school, where they took part in a formal debate about whether children should chose to go to secondary school or not.
The class were split into groups to find out about the type of education available in different countries, which included thinking about Syrian refugees living in Jordan.
As a warm up activity they were also able to share their opinions about the EU Referendum; making the morning a hugely topical and relevant learning experience.
Mrs Nuzam then held a special workshop with Year 8 pupils alongside Rev'd Sissons, where the group took part in a series of activities designed to highlight the various problems and discrimination taking place throughout the world.