Overland to Russia - April 2007

Last month intrepid Sixth Form History students ventured on a trip by bus from Tallinn to St Petersburg. After two days exploring the charming medieval capital of Estonia, we travelled over the frontier and through the Russian countryside. Whilst in St Petersburg, a city built on water by Peter the Great, we enjoyed the Romanov Tsars. Of particular interest were the ubiquitous golden domed churches and grand palaces.

Rasputin’s murder drew us to the scene of the crime at Yusupov Palace, and Lenin’s statue provided a reminder of Russia’s turbulent past. The highlight of our cultural entertainment was a ballet performance at the Mariinskiy Theatre and a Russian Folklore evening at Nickolaevsky Palace.

A visit to the House of Fabergé resulted in the purchase of some rather pricey Easter eggs and we all returned home clutching a collection of matryoshki stacking dolls as gifts.

A-level Geography Field Trip - January 2007

Lovely Weather For Ducks!

Year 12 students take measurements at Flatford Mill Field Centre

Webbed feet would certainly have been an asset for the Year 12 Geography students who braved the weather last week, at Flatford Mill in Suffolk.

The brave band of eight, accompanied first by Mrs Cox and then, in better weather, by Mr Cotton, showed great determination and fortitude as they did battle with the River Brett. River levels were high but, after appropriate risk assessments, they carried out their measurements, gaining some of the best results their tutor had ever seen. A less arduous day followed when, engaged in Human Geography research in the little market town of Sudbury, they used their charm to persuade unsuspecting passers-by to answer their questionnaires.

“ The best things about this field trip were Mrs Cox’s chocolate flapjack, used to bribe us to do ‘just one more site measurement’, an amazing chocolate pudding and Mr Cotton’s endless supply of sweeties.”

A good time was had by all and a tired but happy band returned to school to collapse in the Common Room on Friday afternoon. Rather like our speaker on Eighth Weekend, they may well look back on their trip as one which taught them many skills, some of them Geographical. They also know how to look on the bright side of life and, importantly, how to look elegant in six layers of clothing and a woolly hat.

Beechwood in Berlin - Autumn Term 2006

Last Friday, Year 11 historians set out, with high hopes and much excitement, for Berlin.  The trip certainly lived up to our expectations and we stayed in the comfortable Sunflower Hostel. The places we visited were spectacular: the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag (the seat of Parliament in Germany), the Kaiser Wilhelm I Church, which was bombed during the Second World War, and the incredibly moving Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp where thousands of people had been killed.  We visited Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall, that separated East and West Berlin.  The shopping at Friedrichstrasse was fantastic, and we visited Potsdamer Platz, where a very fast lift took us high enough for a 360 degree view of Berlin.