Trips, Visits and Events
The 5ème class trip to York (18-22 April 2005)
by Ross Black
A full week spent to visit York
- Monday the 18th of April 2005, Paris. Drizzle. The only time in the whole week that I used my umbrella. However, I was well prepared, as were all the teachers as we gathered together at the meeting point at the Gare Du Nord. After months of anticipation, sleepless nights, worries (tickets? What tickets?), hassles (are three levels of administration better than one?), and a small dose of excitement, we were finally on our way. Many thanks to the parents at this point, who were incredibly prompt at bringing their children to the station. The voyage posed no real problem, despite a small matter of two students forgetting where their bags were, literally minutes before the train departed. No matter as they were found in time. We arrived at the hostel, which was both welcoming and comfortable. Our first visit to the Castle Museum was an eye opener to many students, as they hadn’t realised that museums could actually be fun and informative, a realisation that continued throughout the week. A good dinner (both the food and the weather defied the stereotype!) followed by an unforgettable experience on the York boat that evening, concluded a busy but fruitful day.
- Tuesday. A relaxed start saw us walk into the centre of town (literally 10 minutes away), and from a teacher’s point of view, it was one of the best reasons for choosing York. It was quiet and pedestrianised, much safer than London when you have 61 students in tow. This was also the morning of one of the highlights for many students: the York Dungeons... Why do students like the gruesome bits so much? After a lunch in the centre of town, accompanied by an exploration of York’s shops, we moved on to another highlight (mine actually): the Jorvik centre and the ARC. Having taught the Vikings at the beginning of the year, this gave the students a wonderful opportunity to reinforce and extend their historical learning. The Jorvik centre itself is a recreation of Viking York (down to the smells), and, combined with an on-site archaeologist and ‘living Vikings’, it made the whole visit quite an incredible experience. ARC offered a hands-on experience of archaeology, an activity that developed students’ understanding of where much of our historical knowledge comes from. From a pedagogical point of view, this was priceless. The evening was spent in the company of a ghost hunter, who certainly scared a number of the company , and entertained the rest with his tales of haunted York.
- Wednesday. Our sights were now set further afield, the morning seeing us travel out of York to Fountains Abbey, a world heritage site. Despite dark clouds that threatened this tour, the weather held, and allowed us to relive the life of a medieval monk. Few of our students were able to follow the strict monastic rules of silent contemplation, and would not have lasted very long in this medieval career. However, in a follow-up lesson after the vacations, when asked the question: ‘What was life like as a monk?’ a good half an hour of responses gushed forth. Maybe they have some monastic virtues after all. The afternoon was spent at Eden Camp, an old prisoner of war camp that was converted into a museum. This was another firm favourite of many students, as this period of History fascinates them, yet they have to wait until 3eme to study it fully. However, the experience of the camp will stay with them, and will give them an edge in their final year of college. A very English dinner of fish and chips concluded the day’s activities, and allowed the students some time in the evening to catch up with their studies.
- Thursday. A morning spent on a steam train chugging its way through the Yorkshire Moors
( this was where they filmed the Hogwarts Express sequences for Harry Potter) was a particularly pleasant voyage, and gave the day an other-worldly feel to it. A stroll in the Moors took us through the lunchtime period, and through the quintessential English countryside village of Goathland (where Heartbeat is filmed if you know it), and down to the Mallyan spout, a rather impressive waterfall. The stunning settings continued in the afternoon with a visit to Robin Hood’s Bay (no connection with the hero of legend). Unfortunately the tide was in,which hindered our fossil hunting, but the setting provided an excellent opportunity to study the topic of smuggling instead. A somewhat smarter group made its way to the York Royal Theatre that evening for a performance of ‘On the Verge’, a disabled actor’s one man account of his voyage along Route 66 in the States on a Harley. The Harley was unfortunately not in attendance, but Jez Coleburn’s stories of his voyage of discovery both entertained and moved us, and certainly gave us a better understanding of disabled issues.
- Friday. The final day gave us little time for visits, but a very brief glimpse into York Cathedral concluded our time in York. A beautiful way to end the week. We had a smooth journey back to Paris, and into the waiting arms of parents. Again, thank you for your punctuality.
The trip was an excellent educational experience for all subjects concerned, as well as for deepening students’ cultural understanding of England. These were days that will stay with the students for the rest of their lives. The whole week provided a fun, safe and educational environment for the students, and certainly should be the venue for any similar future visits. I would like to thank all my colleagues on the trip: Ben, Helen, Michèle, and Pat, who were not only wonderful company, but incredibly professional, and were a big reason for the trip being so successful. As such, the ratio between students and staff was perfect. The students from both Chaville and Sevres were incredibly well behaved, mixed well together both socially and in work activities, and were a credit to the school and to you as parents. It was also interesting to see students who hadn’t performed well in class this year, suddenly blossom in York.
The hostel provided both excellent food and value for money, and again helped with the success of the visit. The cost of the voyage (496 euros) broke down into three parts:
- 205 euros for room and full board
- 212 euros for transport (including coaches for 2 days in York)
- 79 euros for all visits
I would like to point out that while some school trips are less costly (the pupils housed with host families), we could not, in S.I.S. (and with a 5eme group of around 60) envisage finding and vetting an adequate number of suitable families. Firstly the logistics would be unmanageable with such large groups, and secondly, we would lose out on the experience of living together for a week. It is much harder work for the teachers to be with the pupils for potentially 24 hours a day, but we value this opportunity to get to know and understand them better, and for them to get to know us. Pupil-teacher and pupil-pupil relationships are always improved and strengthened after an experience like this, and good relationships are vital to successful teaching and learning.
This leads me to my last, but certainly not least, thank you, which must go to Vicki. She resolutely and steadfastly fought for this trip despite all the administrative challenges that were thrown in her way, and persevered in her desire to see that the trip would be both economical and worthwhile, a very difficult balance to achieve. On behalf of the students and staff involved, a very big Thank You.
I leave the final word to Daniel: “It was the most awesome experience of the first thirteen years of my life”
Dernière modification le 19-05-06 par
