Colombo is a fascinating historical city which the students of Year 4 were looking forward to explore. Seat belts fastened and clipboard and pencil in hand, they toured the dynamic historic city and got a sense of Colombo’s colonial roots via its architecture. The students were able to see the remnants of Portuguese, Dutch and British settlements in a real juxtaposition of the ancient, colonial and modern influences which make up the city.
From the Colombo Fort which once housed the Dutch Hospital, to riding in the first electrified lift to be built on the island and into the Independence Memorial Hall, the pupils were afforded a chance to ride down memory lane and experience an end to a turbulent era by viewing the images and busts of national heroes who were instrumental during the struggle for independence. The children could not help but ask who these people were and wondered whether their actual heads were still inside the statues!
There were echoes of promises from pupils to get their families to really ‘visit’ the city next time they were out and about. All in all, it was a half-day of historical exploration which was tempered by unusually mild sunny weather.
