Palace of Westminster visit
09/11/09
Five IC6 A level Law students together with the Director of IC6 took advantage of a unique opportunity to consolidate their knowledge about how Parliament works during their October half term visit to the Palace of Westminster.
‘The day began when we arrived at the Cromwell Green Entrance to start with an official tour of the awe-inspiring Palace - taking in the different sections of the House of Commons and House of Lords that make up the Houses of Parliament. We found out that the Palace contains nearly 1,200 rooms, 100 staircases and over 2 miles of passages so we couldn’t cover it all!
We were then able to sit in the Lords Chamber to watch a session of Oral Questions. These sessions take place at the beginning of business from Monday to Thursday and are one of the ways that the House of Lords makes government ministers answer questions about their work, and so this was a great opportunity to develop our understanding about the work that goes on in the House of Lords and who does it.
Oral Questions were followed by a visit to Baroness Royall's Office where we had tea and were able to chat with the Baroness about current issues and affairs.
Altogether it was an exceptional trip and opportunity. The students and everyone at IC6 would like to thank the Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (The Leader of the House of Lords and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster) for arranging the trip, giving up so much of her time and for being so accommodating’.
John O’Shea
Director of IC6
Highbury Grove School,
Highbury Fields School
Cental Foundation Boys' School
St Aloysius' College