Sixth Form to London on Sociology trip

In December, our Sixth Form Sociology students visited London! Year 13 Claudia writes about the trip:

On Friday 3rd December Year 12 and 13 went on a Sociology trip to London. We got the train down and went via the tube straight to the Met police for a talk. We were warmly welcomed by numerous staff members and the view from the 8th floor was incredible. The talk started with an introduction and led into careers within the Met which was interesting as I didn’t know there were so many different roles that were so unique to one another.

We were introduced to six professionals who gave us an insight into what their job was and their specialities. They ranged from digital forensics to DNA experts. The lead inspector told us about a real case they investigated, leaving out essential details to protect anyone involved in the case and for our mental health, and we heard from the six professionals what their role would be to solve that case. Throughout this time we were actively encouraged to ask questions and give our opinion as to what we thought the professionals would do. For example, we were asked ‘What does the witnessing of the suspect at both the crime scene and the body disposal site tell us?’ There were guesses from our group such as ‘it tells us the suspect might have been involved in the crime’. However, the lead inspector told us that it actually told us nothing other than this suspect was in both places in the same evening and we would need to find solid, incriminating evidence to prove the location of the suspect was something more than a coincidence. We were then fortunate enough to meet a high ranking police inspector who concluded the fascinating talk and left us with the opportunity to ask questions to any of the professionals in the room. Overall the talk was insightful and I believe it sparked ideas and interest amongst our group as a potential career option.

After the Met, we headed to Covent Garden for free time and we got to see the Christmas decorations and in small groups explore where we wished. Upon meeting Mrs Bamforth at the checkpoint, we walked straight to The Houses of Parliament, ready for our tour. After entering The Houses of Parliament, we split into our allocated groups and each got our own set of headphones so we could hear the tour guide at all times. We began our tour and we visited numerous rooms, including The House of Lords and The House of Commons. Photography was banned for security reasons but it meant we were truly appreciative of what we were seeing and it was strange to think of the many Politicians (and royalty!) that had walked in the same places we were. The tour was really insightful and the trip as a whole was very useful for our A level Sociology studies and particularly relevant to our current unit of study.

I really enjoyed the trip and my favourite part was the talk by the Met, it was such an amazing opportunity.