Educational Visits

Educational visits are a regular feature in both our Prep and High School programmes and allow pupils to learn in a different context. Some recent field trips include:

 Prep Lower I discover mini-beasts at Harlow Carr Gardens, Harrogate

This is 7 years old Dania Khunda's description of the day. 

'We went to Harlow Carr Gardens on Tuesday. First we had a little walk around the gardens and we spotted lots of snail shells and I spotted a bee! Then we went to the greenhouse to have our lunch and, guess what, I even dropped my apple and sandwich on the floor, silly me! After that we saw Debbie and we went and looked for slug tracks on trees and Miss Bland and I saw two tracks at the same time on the same tree and it was only the first tree we looked at! Later on we looked under damp leaves and I found two very unusual things. One was white and to you it might look like a white stone or something like that. The other thing looked a bit like a brown fossil or a curled up worm. Harriet found a snail hibernating and Debbie helped us find a woodlouse. The thing that I enjoyed the most was when we found out what was the fastest minibeast and what was the slowest minibeast. After that we thanked Debbie and went on the coach again back to school and I thought, such a shame it’s gone and what a lovely day it had been and that was true of everyone, you know. That was the end of our fabulous day at Harlow Carr Gardens'. 

Gateways Artists hit London Galleries

Just before Christmas, Upper and Lower Sixth Fine Art groups gathered with their teachers at Leeds railway station to catch the train to London at the start of their two-day visit to several London art galleries. The National Gallery, The National Portrait Gallery, The Saatchi Gallery, Tate Modern and The Wallace Collection were all fully explored. The visit also allowed the girls the time to take in the sights and experiences and tastes of our capital city, with a lovely evening meal near Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on the banks of the Thames.

The girls had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Highlights included travelling in London on the Underground, seeing the festive lights and some of London’s famous landmarks such as The Gherkin, Big Ben and the London Eye, and just soaking up the atmosphere of such a vibrant city. The visit to the Saatchi Gallery with its striking and fascinating contemporary artworks stood out as one of the most memorable aspects of the visit – the large abstract canvas paintings were particularly impressive. All of this plus being with friends and seeing an ex-Hollyoaks actress on the tube made this an inspiring day to remember! 

Upper VI Literature students visit Howarth November 2009

In November a group of Upper VI English Literature students visited Howarth as part of their study of the Gothic literature genre. The girls were treated to three educational workshops, including an introductory lecture explaining the literary and biographical background of the Bronte family, a guided walk around the Bronte village and a discussion of the critical readings of Wuthering Heights. They also explored the Bronte Parsonage Museum, where they saw original texts produced by the Brontes, including minute childhood story books, as well as the costumes from the recent TV drama of Wuthering Heights.
The visit certainly helped the girls appreciate how the Brontes lived the gothic experience growing up with death and tragedy as everyday events. The group didn’t venture to Top Withens, but standing on the edge of the moors with a cool wind blowing and after hearing spine-chilling tales of the horrors of life in industrial Howarth, they could understand the inspiration for the writings of the Bronte sisters.

 Geography field trip to Coca Cola bottling plant September 2009

Upper IV geographers visited the Coca-Cola bottling plant at Wakefield, where they were able to expand on their understanding of globalisation by seeing the extent to which a large global brand develops its manufacturing processes in response to increasing markets. The pupils have subsequently developed their knowledge and understanding of the way in which geography influences the location of a global business and how branding can be utilised to increase international recognition and revenue.

Sixth Form Biologists Cranedale visit June 2009

A2 Level biologists visited Cranedale in support of their coursework. The girls visited Filey Brigg to look at zonation and limpet morphology, as well as the impact of farming and chalkland succession. They worked extremely hard and collected some very valuable field data to study on their return to school.

Geography field trip to Malham May 2009

Lower V geographers braved the elements to visit Malham, where they collected data about the velocity patterns, width, depth and bedload of Cowside Beck in order to examine the characteristics of a river’s long profile. They formulated hypotheses and observed the features of the river’s upper course, middle course and lower course in order to investigate whether this is an example of a textbook river. They shall now be using their measurements and fieldwork techniques as the basis of their forthcoming coursework. We look forward to some interesting results!

Flamborough fieldwork May 2009

Lower IV geographers enjoyed a fieldtrip to Flamborough. They investigated coastal ecosystems and observed the impacts of the sea along the Holderness coastline, leaving evidence such as arches, stacks and stumps. In addition, the human threats of a rapidly eroding coastline were witnessed, so creating a thorough understanding of the immense power and impact of processes such as erosion and longshore drift. An enjoyable day was had by all with the sun shining on the Gateways’ geographers all day!

Drax Power Station visit March 2009

Upper III visited Drax Power Limited near Selby – Europe’s largest coal-fired power station. The girls learned that one person in 12 in the UK gets their electricity supply from Drax, and that while Drax still burns mainly fossil fuels, it does so in the cleanest way possible. The tour included a bus trip around Drax’s own nature reserve, where wild animals such as roe deer and herons live. An increasing amount of Drax’s electricity comes from burning renewable fuels such as willow and even peanut shells. By-products of the process include gypsum for interior walling and fly ash for breeze blocks. The flue gases are scrubbed clean of sulphur dioxide so that acid rain is avoided. 

Croda Manufacturing Plant visit March 2009

A group of six Upper IV and six Lower V girls set off on a visit to Teesside in the north-east. Their destination was Croda, manufacturers of personal and household cleaning products, such as washing up liquid, bubble bath, face creams, sun creams and additives for cosmetics. The Croda complex covers nine square miles and contains its own power station, fire station and medical centre; making it the largest chemical complex in Europe.
Upon arrival the girls were given a safety induction, which told them what action to take in the event of a fire or the release of a toxic gas. Although no gas was released, there was a practice while they were there. Before touring the production plant the girls were fully kitted out with safety clothing – steel toe boots, coats, gloves, safety glasses and hard hats. The plant was a maze of pipes and vessels with steam everywhere. The girls saw the computerised control room, which runs the production 24 hours a day, and the laboratory where the products are tested before they are sent out of the plant to the customers.

Othello February 2009

Lower VI English Literature students were accompanied by Mrs Dixon to the West Yorkshire Playhouse to see the current production of Othello. The girls were fortunate enough to be invited to participate in a workshop about the play, which widened their understanding of the performance. The workshop was followed by an ‘encounter’ with a few members of the cast. The girls had an interesting discussion with Barry Rutter, the Director (also acting as Desdemona’s father). The three-hour play has received lots of media attention because Lenny Henry is playing the role of Othello – the girls think he certainly has the voice for the role and played Othello very well indeed. The Northern Broadside cast gave an interesting and thought-provoking performance that was enjoyed by all.

Durham Cathedral visit January 2009

Upper IV pupils visited Durham Cathedral to study religious art. Of particular interest to the girls was a wooden carving of the Virgin Mary looking at her crucified son. The grain of the wood made it look as though Mary was crying and the girls found this a very poignant piece of work. A tapestry also caught the girls’ attention: scallop-shaped fabric pieces were graduated in colour to depict a seaside horizon image. Our hosts at the cathedral commented that they have approximately 30,000 students visit per year, but that very few are as well behaved as the girls from Gateways.

Coca-Cola fieldtrip January 2009

Lower V Geography and Business Studies pupils enjoyed a fieldtrip to the Coca-Cola bottling factory in Wakefield. After donning very attractive red hats, the girls watched 2000 cans of Coca-Cola being processed in just 60 seconds. The visit gave them insight into the organisation of a large manufacturing company and the capital-intensive automated machinery that produces this globally recognised product.

Romeo and Juliet January 2009

Upper VI and Lower VI Drama students had a most enjoyable and productive overnight stay in Stratford-Upon-Avon, where they saw the Royal Shakespeare Company give a stunning performance of Romeo and Juliet. The play was presented in Elizabethan mode with a mafia-style twist that involved flick knives and fedoras. The girls agreed that the central roles were performed with some feeling, but perhaps not enough. They also wondered why there was no balcony, why the nurse was so thin and why Mercutio died off-stage. All these questions, and many more, were answered when Gyuri Sarossy, the actor who played Mercutio, joined the girls on the Saturday morning for a discussion about the play. They found it fascinating to get an insider’s view of the production and to find out more about the reality of life as a working actor. After the talk, the girls absorbed the Shakespearean vibe in Stratford for an hour or so before making the journey home. An intense and rewarding visit.

Warburton's Factory January 2009

Lower V Food Technology pupils visited the Warburtons factory in Bolton. As part of their course, the girls have been looking at bread production methods and the trip enabled them to see first hand how bread is manufactured by one of the countries oldest and largest bakeries. After an introductory DVD about the history of the company, the girls prepared themselves for the tour by donning bright blue hairnets and white factory shoes! The tour followed the bread-making process from the raw ingredients through the factory to the end product. Everyone was given a loaf of bread to take home – even the bus driver!

Armley Mills visit January 2009

Upper II visited Armley Mills. This visit supported their current study of Leeds and focused them on thinking about what life might have been like for children in the woollen mills. During the visit, the children were assigned different roles within the Victorian woollen mill, such as, doffers, scavengers and fillers. In these roles they had the opportunity to take part in role

play; filling the carding machines, scavenging for wool on the factory floor and replacing empty bobbins on the spinning mules. The children were given a real insight into the l

ife of a mill child and heard about the fatal injuries some children suffered as well as the long working hours and penalties that were in place for children who spoke during the working day.

Finally the childen were taken into the mill owner’s house and the weaver’s cottage to see how the rich and poor lived in Victorian times. They helped to make a rag rug and noticed the differences between the two homes.

Shree Laxmi Narayan Hindu Temple November 2008

Upper ISS has been looking at light as one of their topics. They have read the story of Rama and Sita and made puppets of the characters that appear in the story. They were fortunate enough to visit the new Shree Laxmi Narayan Hindu Temple in Bradford last Friday. The children had the opportunity to experience the Hindu traditions and costumes. They were told about some of the deities and shrines and received a blessing by way of food. They returned to school with a red bindi spot on their forehead and much to share with others.

Upper and Lower V London Arts Visit November 2008

Blessed with sunshine, 27 Art pupils from Upper V and Lower V gathered with their teachers in Leeds Railway Station on Wednesday to travel to London to visit The National Portrait Gallery, The Saatchi Gallery and Tate Modern. Our Sixth Form Art students made a similar visit on 8 October. Both visits incorporated some of the sights and experiences of our capital city.

Our GCSE students agreed that they had an ‘amazing time’ and ‘loved it’. Travelling in London on the Underground; seeing the ‘glamorous lights’, some of London’s landmarks such as Big Ben and the London Eye; and soaking in the atmosphere of this vibrant city were all highlighted. The girls particularly recommend a visit to the Saatchi Gallery; at least one of our pupils is determined to return to this impressive gallery, with its innovative, interactive and fascinating exhibits. The art work of the fallen angel and the old men in moving wheelchairs were especially memorable.

All of this, plus being with friends and seeing the actor Alistair McGowan, made this day an inspiring one to remember.