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Year 9 British Values London Trip - March 2023

3rd November 2022

Dear Parent/Carer

As you may be aware, for a number of years, we have offered students in year 9 the opportunity to attend an educational overnight trip to London to promote the British values of democracy, tolerance, rule of law and respect. This year, once again, I am delighted to be able to offer this exciting opportunity to our students. The date for this year’s trip will be Thursday 2 to Friday 3 March 2023. This year, due to Covid-19, there are some additional factors you need to be aware of. Please be aware of these, including the refund policy, as detailed at the end of this letter before making any deposit for this trip.

One of the main events of the trip is a visit to the Houses of Parliament where students will undertake a debating workshop and have a tour before meeting our local MP. This, and the rest of the trip will provide students with the opportunity to develop their understanding of life in Modern Britain. The two days are packed with fun educational experiences:

Thursday 2nd March (times TBC)

  • Depart Liskeard School via coach at 5.15am
  • 11.30am – 12.30pm: London Central Mosque - 1hour tour/workshop. Students have studied elements of Islam through KS3 as well as this forming a large part of the KS4 course. This visit will help to consolidate their understanding and develop respect for people of all faiths.
  • 1.30pm – 3.30pm: Houses of Parliament - Debating Workshop and Tour of the Houses of Parliament.
  • 5.30pm: Dinner in London - Evening meal in Covent Garden. Exact venue TBC.
  • 7.30pm: West End Show – Wicked at the Apollo
  • 10:30pm - Depart for YHA St Pauls Cathedral for overnight accommodation.

Friday 3rd March

  • Breakfast and leave YHA St Pauls Cathedral at around 9.15am
  • 10.30am – 2.30pm: KidZania - KidZania is a city built for children; providing them with the opportunity to experience the World of Work and develop their financial literacy through a choice of 60 activities. The activities help to develop social skills, teamwork, resilience, and respect. This year, our visit falls during their Careers Week, so there will be a number of additional activities available
  • 3.30pm – 4.45pm: The London Eye- A view of the capital
  • 5.00pm: Thames Clipper Cruise – A new addition for this year. En-route back to Cornwall to avoid central London’s Friday rush hour traffic, we will take the Thames Clipper river boat west out of London, meeting up with the coach at Putney Bridge. Not only will this be a practical method of transport, it will allow students one last sight-seeing opportunity.
  • 6.00pm: Depart for Liskeard School – We will make a stop off at a motorway service station for students to purchase their evening meal before returning to Liskeard School at approximately midnight.
  • As usual for this trip, we have sourced some external funding and can therefore offer the trip at a subsidised price of £160, this provides excellent value for money as it includes all activities in the programme including travel, dinner, accommodation, breakfast and a packed lunch on the Friday. Students will only be required to bring their own packed lunch for Thursday, as well as money for food on Friday evening at the service station.

If your child would like to take part in this exciting opportunity, please make a non-refundable deposit of £60 via ParentPay. Please be aware places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis for 50 students. Making the payment will secure your child’s place on the trip as once the 50 places are filled, ParentPay will no longer accept payments. It will open this afternoon (Thursday 3rd November) and will be open until all spaces are filled. Should the trip be fully booked, but your child would like to attend, please contact me as I will keep a reserve list. As with all school trips, we reserve the right to remove a student from the trip if their behaviour in school gives us a cause for concern.

In order to help spread out the cost, the remaining balance can be paid in two instalments of £50. Reminders will be sent out to parents via text and/or email near these dates:

Instalment 1: Friday 16th December                            

Instalment 2: Friday 17th February

Of course, payments can be made at any time before the trip as long as the instalment dates are met. Please note that the instalment dates link to when we have to make payments for the trip. Therefore, we are unable to refund any money paid if your child later decides they no longer want to attend the trip for any reason.

Covid-19

Clearly this year, we need to factor Covid-19 into our planning. Whilst we hope to run the trip as normal, the itinerary is provisional and may be changed due to Covid-19 guidelines or restrictions nationally or at individual venues. Please also be aware that in order to attend the trip, students will be required to follow any government and venue guidelines at the time, which may include the requirement to be vaccinated or proof of a negative test before departure. Should this be the case you will be informed. This will need to be organised by, and if necessary, paid for by you.

Should the trip have to be cancelled by us due to Covid-19, then I can confirm that you will receive a full refund of any money paid, including the deposit. However, the difficult decision has been taken that should your child not be able to attend at late notice due to Covid-19 or refusal to follow any requirements, that the school and parents will need to share the cost. Therefore, we will only be able to part-refund any payment, with the deposit remaining non-refundable. If your child wishes to take part in this trip, please be aware of this before paying the deposit. As with all school trips, should your child later decide not to attend for any reasons other than Covid-19, then no payment will be refunded.

An information evening for parents/carers and students will be held a few weeks before the trip. In the meantime, should you have any further questions about this trip, please do not hesitate to contact me via the school reception or by emailing: elofthouse@liskeard.net

Yours sincerely

Mrs E Lofthouse

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