Farr pupils witness Holyrood 'bear-pit.'
FARR HIGH School’s annual university trip took place just in time for the dramatic mixture of snow, ice, rain and wind which performed its boisterous birl round Scotland at the end of last week,writes head teacher and Northern Times correspondent Jim Johnston
Despite the tempestuous interlude, the 12 students involved managed to be on time for 53 of the 57 appointments that had been made for them in 13 institutions across five cities, the exceptions being at Heriot Watt University and Telford College which had both been forced to close on Thursday afternoon due to the threat of severe gales.
Also slotted in to the trip was First Minister’s Question Time at the Scottish Parliament, taken on this occasion by Depute First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, whose boss was on a trip to China. Not, as the Opposition alleged, because he had been swopped for a giant panda but to engage with one of the few buoyant markets left in the world.
While the bear-pit atmosphere of that hectic half-hour was undoubtedly entertaining, pupils who, in line with the Good Citizenship element of the Curriculum for Excellence, had been taught to listen to both sides of an argument, found the cat-calling, drumming on desks and point scoring somewhat disconcerting and certainly not something even MSPs would get away with in a classroom.
Outside the parliament, in the wind and rain, the atmosphere was equally electric with demonstrators for and against the present proposal to change the laws on marriage in a strident face-off with a line of shivering policemen separating them.
Those in favour of same-sex marriage, though fairly vocal, were outnumbered by the serried ranks of clergy supporting the status quo. They had also brought along a loudspeaker to ensure that everyone could hear their message and made extensive use of it as the Farr High group threaded its way between the protagonists in a gap created by the police.
Inside seemed fairly normal after that and became more so when local MSPs, Rob Gibson and Jean Urquhart, emerged unscathed from the chamber after Question Time to chat in a civilised manner with pupils and teachers in the relative quiet of the magnificent entry hall.
Travel home on Friday was uneventful over roads occasionally peppered with snow and all were back in their homes by 10pm, a little exhausted after several very early starts.