Poland Trip 2009

In the early hours of Tuesday 30th June 20 pupils and 3 members of staff (myself, Mrs Morton and Mr Terrace) set off from Lockerbie to travel to Krakow in Poland for the first ever RE trip overseas.

The itinerary was 4 days of full activities ranging from guided walks to shopping, salt mines and Auschwitz. The mood was very high, but as no-one on the trip had been to Krakow before we did not know exactly what to expect.The Hotel on arrival was very clean and well above my expectations of a hotel where school trips go!! There were so many amazing activities on this trip that it is hard to single any out. One highlight for me personally, was our meeting with a Holocaust survivor, who was 90 years old and still bright and articulate and able to talk about his time in Auschwitz (through an interpreter) for nearly 2 hours!!

The pupils where enthusiastic throughout and there was very little complaining on our walking day when we spent 5 hours with a guide round Krakow in sweltering heat! In fact the pupils’ response to this trip was another of my highlights as they were a pleasure to take and have made it hard to imagine repeating, but we will try!!

The climax of the trip was a day in Auschwitz-Birkenau. We knew it would be harrowing, and it was, but the overwhelming sense that I was left with at the end was one of hope, and a very strong need to bring children to see what hatred can do!! It reaffirmed how important a trip like this is for all people and I believe the pupils were changed from this experience.

And so we returned July 4th back safe to Lockerbie all having enjoyed our trip and definitely looking forward to the next one!!

Mrs J Reville, Group Leader

Full size image Covering up outside Krakow Cathedral	Full size image Five pupils down the salt mine in front of the Pope	Full size image Wawel Castle, Krakow
Wieliczka Salt Mines	Auschwitz by Karen Pollard	Evenings and Trams by Bryony Forbes and Ferne Lambert-Gorwyn
Full size image Group at Krakow 1670 km from Edinburgh	Full size image Monument at Plaszow Concentration Camp	Full size image Meeting with Holocaust survivor Jozef Paczynski
Full size image Having a break in Aushwitz	Full size image Birkenau Lookout Post	Full size image Photographs taken from suitcases of victims of the Holocaust