On Monday morning a great big bus pulled up outside the front door at FSM to take all the children in the Pre Prep, and the older Nursery children, on a school trip. to be honest, we could have just driven around the block and back because quite a few of them had not been on a coach before and quite enjoyed the experience!
Salisbury Cathedral
However, there were more treats in store. We went to Salisbury Cathedral, where we were welcomed at the big side door by a group of lovely Cathedral guides. They took us around the cathedral in little groups and showed us all sorts of interesting things. We were told about the tombs and how they all had bodies in them and about the skeleton of a rat which was found inside the skull of one of them. The rat had died of arsenic poisoning. Does this mean that the man in the tomb had died of poisoning too?! We were shown the trapdoor in the floor of the chancel where the water in the gravel bed under the cathedral is measured and monitored. There is four feet of water there right now if you are interested! We went into lots of different nooks and crannies to find carvings of different animals and some rather irreverent Cobol’s made by the stonemasons. They were also told the Christmas story and the meaning of advent and were shown all the advent rings and candles around the Cathedral which represent Jesus bringing ‘light and life’ to the world.
Leaden Hall
We then all went over to Leaden Hall School. It is looking rather forlorn now, and a couple of members of staff were rather sad to see it looking that way, as they had worked there themselves, or had daughters who had been pupils there.
We were shown into a large, airy hall where the children were reminded about the meaning of Advent and were instructed in how to make an Advent ring. Every child, from Nursery to Year Two, thoroughly enjoyed doing this and the results were brought back to FSM with pride.
The children were beautifully behaved. They listened attentively and were a real credit to us all. Our guides commented that they always loved having us visit and that we were always ‘so good’!
It was a super trip. The Cathedral always makes us more than welcome and provides a super foundation upon which we can build the story of Christmas. We look forward to going again at Easter time!
See the photographs below.
