German Christmas Markets Trip
Miss White reports:
On 14 December 2016 (the last day of the Christmas term), 43 members of Years 9 and 10, and 5 members of staff, departed for Boppard on the River Rhine, arriving after a long journey at about 7 pm.
Thursday began with a treasure hunt around the small town of Boppard. We had a list of things (in German of course!) that we had to either find or take pictures of. It was a great opportunity to practise our German and several local people even commented on our excellent word order! After the treasure hunt, we went on a boat trip along the Rhine to Rudesheim. We saw many sights along the way and all enjoyed a hot chocolate too! When we arrived at Rudesheim, we visited Siegfried's Mechanical Musical Instrument Museum and then had some time to look around the Christmas markets with plenty more opportunities to practise German. On returning to the hotel, we had dinner followed by a quiz, testing our knowledge of German culture and language.
On Friday, we did an orienteering activity around Boppard and then hopped on the coach to make our way to Koblenz. Our first stop was at a small vineyard, where we learnt about the process of winemaking and then took part in a juice tasting. Afterwards, we went into the town centre and spent a few hours exploring the many Christmas markets that Koblenz has to offer. In the evening, it was time for Farnborough Hill's Got Talent: German edition! 22 girls (and Señora Camprubí!) took part and acts included a dramatic reading of the poem, 'The Jabberwocky', German Yoga and an enthusiastic performance from 'The Roast Turkeys'. Standards were high but, after much deliberation, the Y10 dance group were declared the overall winners.
On Saturday, we got up early and then headed off to Phantasialand, a popular German theme park. We spent the whole day in the park, going on roller coasters, seeing ice shows, taking pictures and enjoying the festive atmosphere. Frau Quinlan was particularly pleased to finally have the chance to go on the world's fastest multi-launch roller coaster!
On Sunday, we left Boppard arriving back in Farnborough in the evening. It had been a great trip, with lots of opportunity to practise German in everyday situations and to experience German culture.
Literary Visit to the Somme
Mrs Campbell reports:
The morning after term finished for Christmas, 13 members of the sixth form and two staff set off for a two day visit to the sites of battlefields and cemeteries at The Somme in Northern France as an accompaniment to A level English Literature. Accompanied by Chris Cuff, our experienced War Literature guide, we explored areas of conflict both physically and through readings of the literature which arose from certain battles and soldiers’ experiences. It was a truly illuminating experience to read the words of poets in the settings that gave rise to such moving poetry, and really allowed us to understand the context and significance of the words that we had only previously read in the comfort of our classroom.
While visiting the Thiepval Memorial, we laid a wreath at the grave of an unknown soldier from a Hampshire Regiment, honouring his memory with a moment of silence and a line from a Wilfred Owen poem we had studied.