Seniors and Sixth Form
Senior School visit to The Lindisfarne Gospels
On Thursday the 3rd November, students in Years 7, 8, 9, and the GCSE and A level RS students, had the opportunity to visit the Lindisfarne Gospels, on display at the Laing Art Gallery. Three students who attended the trip have kindly written their reflections below. Thank you to all of the staff who accompanied the visit – Mr Black, Mrs Callender, Mr Drax, Mr Hogarth, Mrs Innes, Mr Jackson, Miss Jones, Mrs Leonard, Mrs Merrifield, Mr Millet and Mr Patterson.
William M – Year 12
I enjoyed the lovely walk across the Town Moor to the Laing art gallery it was picturesque. Miss Buxton Collins and Gabe H were very good navigators throughout the journey; they got us there swiftly, and it brought a fantastic sense of community between the year groups from the older sixth form boys and the younger Year 7s. When we arrived at the Gospels, we all went to this fantastic, multi-screen room where the history of the gospels is brought to life in a creative and interactive way using the story of the water.
The Gospels were extremely fascinating, and you could see how much time and effort it took to create these wonderful pieces of work and make the spiritual meaning behind the masterpieces clear. The artwork we saw in the gallery soon after, created to show various understandings of ‘spirituality’, was extremely alluring with so much meaning and thought behind each piece, it is really fascinating seeing the individual works and what they entail, including the different materials and understandings. Each piece of art has its own identity which is really intriguing. I’d like to say thank you to all the teachers who helped on the trip and a special thank you to Miss Buxton Collins for organizing this fantastic excursion away from school.
Billy C – Year 9
The trip was truly interesting and a great experience. I would fully recommend the trip to anyone even if you’re not going with the School or are religious. You learn all about the Lindisfarne Gospels and all the stories included with it, including the history of the Gospels and how they got dropped overboard when the monks were moving Cuthbert’s body to Durham Cathedral. You also learn how they influence today’s society.
Even if it’s a 45-minute walk from school I can guarantee an experience you’ll never forget.
Isaac S – Year 9
The trip was a once in a lifetime opportunity to go and visit the Lindisfarne Gospels. At the start of the day, we had a long 45-minute walk, but it was worth it. As we arrived, we did a very interesting starter learning about what the Gospels are. We then made our way to the Gospels. We sat in a room explaining how they were made and why with the water seeming to bounce up the walls and telling us the history of the Gospels in the local area.
Whilst in the city centre, Year 7 and 8 also visited the stunningly beautiful Cathedral Church of St Nicholas. This inspiring building has undergone a huge transformation in recent years and the boys thoroughly enjoyed exploring the combination of new and old from nave to crypt. Boys were intrigued to hear how the Cathedral is embracing its aim of a ‘radical welcome’ and the fact that it is used from Bond concerts to comedy nights and they were encouraged to explore their own entrepreneurial ideas of how the building could be used. Suggestions varied from Strictly Cathedral to Nerf based capture the flag days – we certainly hope to see some of these become a reality!
Some of the boys also enjoyed purchasing cake from the Cathedral cafe, Cafe 16, an excellent enterprise which sells freshly baked goods from the charity’s bakery in HMP Northumberland and is staffed by a team of prison leavers, led, trained and mentored by The Oswin Project. Particularly mention to Toby O-S who bought and carefully carried a piece of cake all afternoon to take home for his Mum and to the number of boys who gave donations towards pay it forward meals for the homeless.