‘On Wednesday, we went for a day trip to London. When we got there, we could see the Shard and the Gherkin from the car park!  We then walked across London Bridge (we’d driven over it in the minibus). We passed Pudding Lane, the place where the Great Fire of London started. In a square, we saw the memorial for all the people who died in the fire. There was an inscription in Latin. Next, we ate lunch next to the Tower of London. Then we walked around the tower, saw the moat, and went across Tower Bridge.

Soon, we came across the Golden Hinde. It is a ship in the middle of a square. The figurehead is a golden doe. We were welcomed in by Captain Rio. She took us onto the middle deck and talked to us. I got to be the helmsman. The helmsman had to kneel down because he was in charge of steering the wheel because the opposing ship would try to knock them off.

We were taken below deck to see the place where the officers would eat, map things out, talk and sleep. The captain had the only bed on the ship. The officers (about 20 out of 60 crew members) slept on straw. When the officers and the captain ate, they got the best and the others got their scraps. Weapons were stored here too.

Captain Rio took us down a staircase that lead to the Gun Deck. This is the place where the cannons would be fired. There were five cannons. This is also the place where the other 40 men would have slept. Then we went down another flight of stairs to the food stores. Everything would have been in a barrel, also pickled. Food was precious, so if you were caught stealing it, your hand was nailed to a post for four hours and then chopped off.

We had a brilliant time on the Golden Hinde and fortunately no one lost a hand!’  Maisie C. Year 5

‘A group of 25 pupils from years 7-10 spent five sunny, but windy days in an intensive language centre adjacent to the beach of the Mar Menor, in South East Spain. The accommodation was basic, but clean, and the staff were very welcoming. We ate typically Spanish food, including tapas, tortilla española and gazpacho soup, (which we made ourselves from a Spanish recipe).
Every activity on the programme involved the use of practical spoken Spanish including kayaking and sailing, cooking, beach games and volleyball. We visited a local street market and the Roman theatre in Cartagena; and we did a street quiz in the pedestrianised centre of this fabulous city.
The evening entertainment was very popular. There was a fiercely fought music and film competition, and an extremely fun Zumba class. A group of Spanish students from Sevilla, who were also staying at the centre, joined in the dancing. On the last night they danced ‘Sevillanas’, a traditional dance from Sevilla, influenced by Flamenco. A few of our older students have stayed in contact with these students since their return.
The staff at the centre spoke to us entirely in Spanish and it was lovely to see how keen our pupils were to try out their Spanish and to watch their confidence increase noticeably through the week. It was also so good to see how well Heritage pupils from different year groups, with different levels of Spanish got along together and helped each other as friendships developed. We all had a great week, experiencing a taste of Spanish culture and traditions whilst improving vocab, aural and spoken Spanish skills.’ Jenny Fleck

What the pupils thoughts :
‘The Spanish trip was an incredibly educational experience. I really enjoyed visiting the Roman theatre in Cartagena and going shopping. I also loved how we were immediately immersed into the culture. From dancing the salsa to making gazpacho, I felt my understanding and ability to speak Spanish improve dramatically.’
Georgina S

‘I think residential trips, such as our trip to the South of Spain, are essential. Suddenly being immersed in to their fantastic, lively culture has made an enormous impact on my accent, fluency and grammar. Our instructors only spoke Spanish to us, hence the huge improvement in our Spanish. Activities included kayaking, battling the Spanish waves in a dinghy, shopping in a street market and visiting the beautiful city of Cartagena. Overall, it was fantastic!’
Siana B