Friday 18th October
Early on Friday the group met, bleary-eyed, at Stansted Airport at 5am ready to commence the trip. As soon as we landed we were transferred to the hotel to quickly turn around again to go into the centre of Berlin to meet with our guides for a brief walking tour. Some of the sites included: Courtyard of German Resistance Museum, the site of the Von Stauffenberg Bomb Plot, Rosa Luxemburg Memorial and the Victory Column.
Some of our route was cordoned off due to the unexpected visit of President Joe Biden of the USA. However, the weather was kind and the students were getting used to the geography and transport system of Berlin. Eventually we made it back to the hotel for dinner and well-earned rest after a very early start.
Saturday 19th October
After a fulfilling breakfast and a good night’s rest the group departed the hotel for a full day in the centre of Berlin with Miss Workman as the tour guide. Visits included the following:
Unguided visit to Topography of Terror.
External View of Reichstag Dome.
Soviet War Memorial, Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust Memorial, Site of Hitlers Bunker, External View of Checkpoint Charlie, Bebelplatz.
Unguided visit to German History Museum.
After having walked some 10 miles or so, we trudged back to the hotel for a rest before going to the Cinema in the evening. We went to see Beetlejuice 2.
Sunday 20th October
Today was a somber day and one of reflection in terms of the level of persecution and murder committed by the Nazis. Ploetzensee Memorial – our first visit was to a now youth offenders’ prison but the site of the execution of any people who opposed the Nazi regime and in particular those who were implicated in the attempted assassination of Hitler in July 1944. Afterwards we then ventured to the site of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, situated in the former British sector during the Cold War, and we had a very informative tour led by volunteers who work at the stadium. We then had lunch at Remus Restaurant. This would have been in the former Soviet zone and some of the decor resembled what it might have looked like during the GDR. After lunch we were then met by our guides who gave us a tour of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. The guides were very informative and interesting and were keen to tell us that the Concentration camp was mostly for political prisoners during the Nazi regime and not a death camp, although there was a site of a furnace used to burn some Jews who died or were killed there. To finish off the day we ended at Platform 17 or the Deportation Memorial Track – the site of where trains left Berlin destined for concentration camps and death camps in the East.
We returned to the hotel for a rest, dinner and then we went bowling.
Monday 21st October
After checking out of the hotel we ventured to Bernauer Strasse, a memorial to the Berlin Wall and its construction in August 1961. From there we then travelled across Berlin to the site of a Stasi Prison – in operation in the GDR and part of our Cold War study. The tour was chilling and demonstrated how prisoners were treated by East German secret police. To end our tour we had lunch and free time for shopping before heading back to the airport to catch our flight home.
In sum total we walked a mere 37 miles and we saw so many historical sites that have brought our study of the past, and Germany in particular, to life. It was certainly a memorable tour.
Thank you to the History department for organising it.
Last month 30 Year 13 psychology students visited Krakow, Poland visiting the site of one of the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau and learning more about the politics and social history during the time of the Nazi invasion of Poland.
Our first day in Krakow began with a traditional Polish street food style lunch of Zapiekanka; a delicious open sandwich with a vast array of fillings to choose from. Our tour guide took us on a walking tour round the Jewish Quarter, Kaziemierz where we visited a beautiful synagogue. She gave us an insight into what it would have been like to live as a Jewish person living in Nazi occupied Poland, having to hide in fear of being caught or being sent away from your home and family.
The tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau on Day 2 was insightful as much as it was harrowing. Piles of children’s shoes, locks of women’s hair and rows of black-and-white photographed faces, identified by numbers on striped pyjamas, stared back at us as we followed a tour guide. The vast array of physical memories of who had been there before brought home the shocking reality of just how many families were unjustly torn apart. The students were confronted with stories of incomprehensible cruelty, hardship and the strength of human spirit in the face of adversity and they were able to use their psychological knowledge and understanding to help them make sense of all of these aspects of humanity. One particularly poignant story was of a priest who volunteered to take the place of another prisoner who had been sentenced to death; one selfless act of many in a camp that was so unforgiving.
As some light relief following on from the day’s events, we ventured into Kraków Old Town where we were shown some of the main sights including the castle (with the famous dragon – which actually breathed fire!) and St Mary’s Basillica where we were able to sit and admire the beautiful architecture and reflect on our experiences from the day. Students were then given some free time to explore the large market square, soaking in the beauty of the surroundings and looking at the array of stalls before we headed to a local Polish restaurant to experience traditional food, folklore and dance.
On our final day, we had the opportunity to listen to a story of strength and resilience told by a lady who’s immediate family had been impacted by the holocaust. We learned about the suffering experienced but also how the Jewish community recovered and healed in the years following the war.
It was a particularly poignant time to visit ahead of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the students embraced every aspect of the experience with humility and maturity, taking away memories that will last a lifetime.
‘Visiting Auschwitz was a shocking and emotional yet fascinating experience that will definitely stay with me forever’ – Lola Gardner
‘It was an experience we were grateful to have had as it’s important to try and understand why these sorts of events happen and how we can try to prevent them from occurring again.’
Year 7 will be involved in a ‘Rudolph Run’ during the afternoon on Wednesday 18th December. They will be out of their lesson during period 6 and will be taking part in a fun activity to help to raise money for Isabel Hospice. The students will be asked to complete two laps of the school field dressed in their PE kit, with the option to wear a Christmas jumper, if they would like to, and a set of reindeer antlers. The antlers will be provided by Isabel Hospice for the fun run.
If the weather is too wet for the run to go ahead, we will be holding a ‘Rudolph Dance’ in the Sports Hall instead.
If you would like to support this fundraising effort, please click here to make a donation.
We began the trip in NYC, exploring famous landmarks and getting a feel for the culture and atmosphere of the city. Notably, we visited Ground Zero, marking the area where the Twin Towers used to stand, and the 9/11 Memorial Museum. This was an educational yet devastating experience as it brought to light the horrors of the 9/11 attack and how widespread the effects were across the US and globally. We were given plenty of opportunities to explore the city in smaller groups, shopping, trying new food, wandering through Central Park, etc. Highlights of the time in NYC were going to Times Square, the top of the Rockefeller Building, having a 360 view of the famous skyline, our ferry trip to Staten Island where we could see the Statue of Liberty up close, and Central Park.
We then made our way out of New York, seeing the beginnings of a Trump rally for the upcoming election as we left. We travelled through New York State, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and finally arrived in Washington D.C. We went on an amazing tour around the city, which was not only educational but incredibly interesting and a fun experience, visiting many memorials, such as Martin Luther King’s, Abraham Lincoln’s, the WW2 memorial and the Kennedy’s family grave plot (the eternal flame) in Arlington Cemetery. We also saw the Washington monument up close, the White House, and other political institutions like the Supreme Court and the Capitol building; where we received a guided tour through the House of Representatives and the Senate. We were lucky enough to also experience the passionate atmosphere of a Kamala Harris Rally. This was like nothing we had ever seen before and we could all feel the sense of community in what seems like a very divided country. On our last day we went to an immersive Spy Museum and ended the trip on a very positive, fun day.
Julia Neilson (Year 13)
The Careers Department arranged a trip to the Sky Up Academy Studios for 29 of our Year 9 students on Wednesday 13th of November.
At the bespoke TV studios, our students used Sky’s cutting-edge digital technology to create their own exciting digital content. They took on real-life media roles and worked with a team of experts to create a film trailer. We also had an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Elstree Studios as well as a 30 minute Career Challenge and a Q&A with a Sky employee.
The trip to the studios was really interesting and we hope it has given our students some ideas about possible future careers!
Some comments from our students about the trip :
“Our trip to Sky Up Studios was amazing! Our group started off learning about many of the different careers in the film industry and then we were told about how a film gets made from script to editing the finished movie. I learned so much about the industry and there is way more to it than you think! It even inspired me to think about a possible career in the industry. We got a virtual tour of the studios and then went on to film and act in our movie pitch. We all got a role in our group to contribute, and it was such an amazing experience!” Grace
“I thought the morning was a wonderful day out and I really enjoyed participating in a trip that me and other people were able to achieve. The sky studios are very posh and 100% exciting. Thank you for involving me and I can not wait to be sent our film as it was absolutely hilarious watching all of them. My filming team were great to work with and we all got along. The people who work there are lovely too.” Lily-May
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Coming Up
Thursday 27th to 12th December
Year 11 Mocks
Monday 1st
Occasional Day
Wednesday 3rd to Saturday 6th
Year 8 & Year 9 German Christmas Markets
Friday 5th
PRE Trip to St Paul’s Cathedral for Year 13
Saturday 6th
Year 12 Bar Mock Trial at University of Hertfordshire
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Headteacher:
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