Languages & Trips

Sixth Form Photography students had a day out in London on Monday, 20th January, to visit the Tate Modern Gallery. The weather was sunny but cold (thank goodness for respite from the recent rain!) and the group had a great day out, including a boat trip on the River Thames. Such a great opportunity as some students had not visited London before.

100 year 11 students travelled to see ‘An Inspector Calls’ at New Wimbledon theatre this week. Students reported it was an excellent production and very useful for seeing characters and quotations brought to life! Wednesday’s trip went well without any problems. However Thursday’s trip hit a slight snag when the coach’s tyre burst after the show, leaving 50 students and 5 teachers to sit in KFC for three hours whilst they waited for the mechanic to fix the problem. Mrs Bevan applauded the students’ patience and high spirits despite the delay and they were soon back on the road and back home for 9. Thank you very much Ms Schofield and Ms Bevan!

On the 7th November a group of year 9 students visited the Imperial War Museum where they were saw a vast array of sources related to WW1 WW2 and the Cold War. They were also taught the key skills needed to create a documentary before creating their own. For some of our students it was their first time visiting the museum and said they would definitely be returning. The students had lots to say about the experience: “The Imperial War Museum was such a positive experience and we had a brilliant day. We learnt about art and music at the time of WW1 and also many facts about a modern battle and the Cold War. Although it was a long journey it was worth every minute. A particularly exciting activity was creating a documentary on an artefact from WW1. This allowed us to be creative and interpret the theme in our own way. If you ever get the opportunity to do a similar trip you must jump at the chance as it really is an incredible experience. Although you are not in usual lessons you learn so many intriguing facts”. Year 9 Students- Tay and Bebel

50 students from years 9, 10 & 11 spent the first weekend of Half Term exploring the art and culture of Amsterdam. After driving through the night staff and students arrived in Amsterdam at mid-day on Friday 25th October; straight into a whistle stop tour of the Van Gogh museum where we got to see some of his most iconic paintings, followed by a canal cruise of the city for some perspective before finally making it to the hotel for some much needed sleep! Day 2 was spent at The Kröller-Müller Museum, a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The weather was glorious, the sun was shining, it was the perfect place for us to stretch our legs, admire the art and get some group photos!! From there, we went back in to Amsterdam to visit the Anne Frank House.One student said that it was “an incredibly enlightening and moving experience.” ! Our last day began with a visit to the MOCO museum, an independent museum located in Amsterdam dedicated to exhibiting modern and contemporary art. The museum was founded with the mission of attracting broader and younger audiences, and of making art accessible to the public.! We then had some time for waffles and shopping before the coach trip home.! Many thanks to all the students that came on the trip for being such positive role models for the school and to the staff that helped provide this opportunity.!

The group comprised some quite nervous students at the start. Some were staying in home stay families and some residing in the youth hostel in the city centre of Düsseldorf itself. They returned after 5 days with a real sense of having overcome these initial nerves and many found it quite a wrench to leave their German student buddies and there was a real sense that everyone left with a deeper and more rounded understanding of German culture, family life and language. The trip comprised a series of cultural as well as linguistic challenges, now in its tenth year. The initial day was spent in our large partner school in Meerbusch, Matare Gymnasium where we started the day with a very heart welcome from the head master Herr Gutjahr-Doells. The students joined their buddies at the start of the day and worked on presentations of sites in the target language. Our students then went into town on the following day and presented each of the sites to us all as if they were a tour guide – many received high praise indeed for their communication skills. There was a rather wet and cold day in Düsseldorf itself on the Friday, but the Saturday saw the sun again and the group headed to Bonn for a really interesting tour around the Haus der Geschichte (Germany’s Museum of Post-war German history) followed by a visit to Cologne and the delights of a Brauhaus lunch, packed with sausage and sauerkraut! The final morning we all ascended the Rheinturm (the tall tower that is an imposing height over the river in the city centre) and were blessed with lovely sunny views over the Rheingebiet. All returned tired but secure in the knowledge that we had all appreciated the opportunity to learn more about a language, culture and people we all have grown to love. Many thanks to Miss Gibb for having organised this with our partner Herr Vonk in Germany. The German students join us in the middle of November in school.