Message from Head of Secondary

In 1985 I went on a school coach trip to Paris. The most memorable thing about it was sitting next to an older lad called Kevin for the whole journey and laughing my head off at his crazy stories and jokes. But the most significant thing about that trip was that I fell in love with Paris and twenty-four years later I went to live there. That trip changed my life. I still love Paris. Kev still makes me laugh too. I mention this because as I write, twenty-nine of our Year 8 and 9 students are having a similar experience in Switzerland. They are travelling with people they perhaps barely knew before the trip, seeing sights they had never seen before, probably falling in love with Switzerland’s natural beauty and learning new skills – like skiing.  Our school may be marvellous – ‘outstanding’ you might say – but even the new technologies within the school walls can’t give those students the experience they are having right now in Switzerland.  Sometimes, you have to go there, live it, breath it….… Our older students are fortunate to have the opportunity to travel as part of a school party. Friendships are created that sometimes last forever, sights are seen, experiences had that can shape future lives and careers. Many of the parents reading this will no doubt have taken great pleasure in taking their own children to the places they visited as children, smiling with nostalgia as happy memories come flooding back. It doesn’t take a flight to make a memorable moment though. Our Year 2 students are off to the zoo soon – a packed lunch, a coach trip, holding hands with a friend to make sure no one gets lost, the sights, sounds and smells of the animals….what a thrill it will be! Year 1 are off to the Abu Dhabi Children’s Library, a truly special place filled with surprises around every corner, literally designed to provide awe and wonder through books.  Year 8 are heading to the Dibba camp, the Year 10 photography group are off to the Grand Mosque, Year 5 are taking a kayak to the mangroves… Children learn a great deal inside these school walls but a great school understands that there is much to be learnt beyond them too. A school trip can be a magical, memorable moment for a child, filled with laughter, learning, surprises and fun.  And as for my memorable moment, well, I don’t see much of Kev these days. But we’ll always have Paris…

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