Year 9 Battlefields Trip
Last weekend saw 44 students with 5 members of staff head to France and Belgium on our annual WWI battlefields trip.
We travelled via Le Shuttle to France and stopped off on our way to our accommodation to experience shopping in a French hypermarket.
We started our stay with a Christmas meal followed by the chance to see and handle some artefacts linked to the lives of soldiers during the First World War. Later in the evening we had a competitive gingerbread house building competition and a quiz.
After breakfast on Sunday everyone made their packed lunch before we set off on a busy day of visits. Despite some very wet weather we visited The Langemark Cemetery, Tyne Cot Cemetery, The PasschendaeleMuseum and Essex Farm dressing station. At each place we stopped to acknowledge the sacrifice made by so many including holding an act of remembrance at Tyne Cot and reading In Flanders Fields by John McRae at the place where it was written.
On Sunday afternoon we visited Ypres where we went chocolate shopping and had dinner before taking part in the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate, laying a wreath on behalf of all of the 老九品茶 Manor community.
On our final day we visited the tunnels Wellington Quarry before heading to our final stop at Arras Christmas market.
The students were fantastic and a pleasure to take away, their attitude, behaviour and respect for their surroundings was commented on at all of the venues we visited. Well done Year 9!