New Year Catch-up!

Swimming with the fish in Skegness!!

As you can see, I haven't posted for quite a few months now. This is because I have been very, very busy! I have been studying for exams, riding ponies and learning about important events in History. In this post I'll tell you everything exciting that has happened since my last post in December, so here we go!

The Assosiation of British Riding Schools (ABRSM) has a set of tests that you an take that are rated A-E, with A being the beginner test and E being the most in-depth and complicated. A few months ago, I entered for the A test at my Pony Club and last week, I got my results. I passed every question with flying colours! I probably could have passed the C test easily, but unfortunately you can't skip a test out and just jump straight to the test you want to take.



Speaking of tests and exams, I've been studying for my IGCSE in ICT for the past few months now. I'm booked in for the exam which is in May so I have been doing lots of practice papers and excercises. I'm aiming for an A* since mom has bribed me with money and said that if I get an A*, she'll give me £250! I really don't believe that she'll give me that much money, but there's only one way to find out.











In a few months time, I'll also have to do my Grade 4 piano exam and my first ever piano (Grade 5!!) theory exam! To prepare for the theory exam, I've joined a small group of three other girls to see my piano teacher once a week for an hour long theory lesson. We compose music, answer questions on music, rewrite music, etc. It's a lot of fun! It's  helping with actually playing the piano as well.

Last week, me and mom took a trip to the Holocaust Centre and Museum for a Home-Ed meet up. For those who don't know what the Holocaust was, it was the time when Hitler and the Nazis were persecuting Jews and other minorities. Over 6 million Jewish men, women and children were systematically murdered.
There was a 93-year-old Jewish man called Bernard who grew up in Germany around this time and he gave a talk at the Museum. He was telling all of the parents and children about how lucky he was to not have been sent to any of the concentration camps. He also told us about his family and what it must have been like for them in the camps. Bernard was only fifteen when his mother, father and sister were murdered in the concentration camps. He was only saved because he was put on the kinder-transport and sent to live in England. His father jumped on the train to give him a last hug goodbye, and that was the last time Bernard saw any of his family.
 Only very recently Bernard found out how the rest of his family were taken to camps where they suffered terribly and they too were murdered. All these years later he was still very traumatised by the events of the Holocaust. Despite being 93, he had an incredible memory! Bernard spends his time talking to groups and schools in England and Germany about his experiences to educate them and so that people never forget.

We had a tour of the memorial gardens. There were lots of white roses planted. Each rose was dedicated to the people who died during the Holocaust. At the edge of the garden there was a stone trough filled with round pebbles. Each person that visits the centre I asked to take a pebble, hold it in their hand and take a minute to think about all the people who lost their lives. Next, you are asked to place the pebble on a platform in remembrance. As you can see, the pebbles have formed a hill, like a monument to the people who suffered and died.


After the talk, me and mom split off from the main Home-Ed group and wandered around the museum-like part of the centre ourselves. There was so much there that we didn't get a chance to see most of it. We'll definitely be returning for another visit soon!