This week MYP2 enjoyed a trip to London in support of their English and Humanities units. Great Western and the Elizabeth Line whisked us to London's East End and the setting of the MYP 2 English text, The Ruby in the Smoke, set in 1872.
The students explored the docks today, looking for features from the book. Although now a very modern place, remnants of Victorian heritage can still be seen, such as the warehouses, locks and two fabulous Thames barges. The booming Victorian tea industry was explored most enthusiastically, particularly the muffin.
From St. Katherine's Docks we wandered across the iconic Tower Bridge and watched some mudlarking, or maybe just enthusiastic selfie taking. They kindly illustrated an important lesson to our students, the consequences of not checking the tide tables as the three mudlarks had a very damp clamber back onto the dockside.
We then wandered along the ancient narrow lanes under the railway arches of London Bridge to the Golden Hind. This is a replica of Sir Francis Drake's ship on which he and his crew circumnavigated the globe.
Our workshop was enthusiastically presented with plenty of detail on the hygiene, or lack thereof, you might expect on such a three year voyage in the 16th century. This was a great conclusion to both Humanities and English topics, we are looking forward to plenty more trips to our great capital city.
