Last week we took a mix of 50 Year 7 and Year 8 pupils on a residential trip to France for the week. Leaving school at 10:15pm on the Sunday night, we travelled by coach to Dover to catch the first ferry across to Calais on the Monday morning. Our destination? The Chateau de Grande Romaine just outside of Paris.
After stopping en route at the First World War memorial site of Vimy to have our lunch, we arrived at our destination just in time to get unpacked and have a swim in the pool (something we enjoyed on a daily basis) before our evening meal. On Tuesday we visited the town of Brie-Comte-Robert to do some shopping at the market, before venturing into Paris in the afternoon to visit Montmartre and the basilica Sacre Couer. On Wednesday we spent a whole day at the Parc Asterix theme park, with both pupils and staff enjoying the variety of exciting rides.
On Thursday we spent the whole of the day in Paris, tackling the steps of the Eiffel Tower to the second floor, enjoying a boat ride on the Seine and a tour around the Arc de Triomphe and Champs d’elysee. And then on Friday we had an early start for the long journey home, fortunately catching an earlier ferry to arrive back at school at 10:15pm. Over the course of the week the children were good company and very resilient, especially given the extreme heat in France last week (in the 40 degrees) and the impact it had on sleep and our general ability to walk in those conditions! As usual, a big thank you needs to go out to the staff who give up a week away from their families to support our children 24/7 (Mr Souter, Mr Robinson, Mrs Telfer, Miss Davis and Miss Chicken). The next planned visit to France will be in 2028, which will be open to those children currently in Year 6 and 5; watch out for more information next year.