History Comes Alive

On Thursday 21 March, 58 students and 4 staff gathered at Bahrain Airport to fly to Brussels for the start of the Year 9 History Trip. Nothing could have prepared us for the freezing temperatures and biting wind! A whirlwind tour of Ypres, visits to two Allied cemeteries and one German cemetery really brought home the horrors of war. Almost all of us, staff and students alike, had a lump in our throats at the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate.  A  tour of the trenches  at Sanctuary Wood showed us how the First World War soldiers must have suffered as we learnt about trench foot, frost bite and lethal gas.

Our next stop was Paris with a visit to the magnificent palace of Versailles, the top of the Eiffel Tower and a boat trip on the Seine.  A day at Disney completed our time in Paris and then we were off to Normandy. We marvelled at the Bayeux Tapestry and the awe-inspiring cathedral and finished the day at a biscuit factory where we were able to eat the fruits of our labours!

The final full day of our trip was spent at Arromanches where we learnt about the Allied invasion and the D-Day landings and we completed the day at the American Cemetery at Coleville.

The accompanying staff were Claire Bridgman, Jim Connolly, Lynn Sutton and Hilary Rowark. In the words of two of the students  – “This is the best trip I have ever been on”, “This trip has made History come alive for me – Thank you”