Jump to: day trips or residential visits.

A number of departments organise trips related to the topics students are studying. These pages give a flavour of the visits undertaken in a typical academic year.

Day Trips

Key Stage 3 Visits

• Year 7 visit Mountfitchet Castle and Hedingham Castle as part of their history work on castles.
• Year 7 students visit Ely cathedral where they learn about the history and religious significance of this important local landmark as part of their RE course.
• Year 8 students visit the Black Country Museum in Dudley as part of their study of the Industrial Revolution. Over 200 students have exciting experiences including a boat trip through limestone tunnels and an underground tour through a mine.
• Year 8 study rivers in geography, and go to Yarwell Farm and Sacrewell Mill to study the River Nene close-up. They get a little wet, but succeed in measuring the speed of flow and depth of the river.
• Year 9 study the First World War in history. More than 200 pupils visit the Somme battlefields in November as they do every year. The day is a long one, but students find it a deeply moving experience.
• Year 9 pupils of French and German attended theatre performances at school in the Autumn Term and are delighted to discover that not only can they understand them, but find them very funny! Last year's groups have recommended we invite the companies again next year!
• Year 9 have the chance to be practically involved in a ‘Japan Day’ in which they have the chance to learn about social, cultural and geographical aspects of life in Japan.
• Talented Science students in Years 7-9 attend demonstrations, workshops and presentations at the Cambridge Science Festival.
• Each year a team of students from Years 7-9 participate in a regional Science competition, The Swavesey Science Challenge.
• Pupils in Years 8-12 participated in the award winning Junior CULP (Cambridge University Language Programme) and followed courses in either Spanish, Chinese or Italian. The programme includes “awaydays” at the Language Centre in Cambridge and twilight sessions in school on Mondays. Some of the Year 9 students of Italian are now taking GCSE Italian. Next year we will be offering pupils of Year 8 Latin language and culture and Year 9 Italian.

Key Stage 4 and Sixth Form Visits

• Year 10 geographers go to Dunwich, where cliff erosion has reduced the second largest east coast port to a tiny village. They do some practical work and look at different methods of coastal protection.
• Year 10 students of German develop their language skills whilst having plenty of fun during the Stadtallendorf exchange.
• Year 10 have an Ethics Day where they have the chance to spend time listening to and asking questions of a survivor of the Holocaust.
• Year 11 historians take part in a revision conference, where the Chief Examiner goes through all the different aspects of exam technique and gives some useful tips on how to succeed.
• Year 11 to 13 art students visit the National Gallery, Tate Gallery and Saatchi Gallery.
• Year 11 Ethics students visit Walsingham in north Norfolk as part of their GCSE coursework.
• Year 11 students of Spanish see a performance of “El carmine”. Last year's group could not remember when they had last laughed so much.
• Year 11 students of MFL are offered a range of booster classes, masterclasses and Saturday revision sessions as well as oral practice at lunchtimes and after school. This year the attendees found these so useful they have recommended that we run them again next year.
• During the course of the academic year 2008-2009 the drama and dance departments arranged a number of visits to the theatre including a trip to see ‘Blood Brothers’ at the Phoenix Theatre; ‘The 39 Steps’ at The Criterion Theatre; ‘The Woman in Black’ at the Fortune Theatre and ‘Billy Elliot’ at the Victoria Palace. In addition, several of our students were privileged to see ‘Oh What a Lovely War!’ at the Mumford Theatre in Cambridge.
• Visits to Curwen Print Studio for Years 12 and 13 art students. Also there is a Year 13 Art Bursary to the Print Studio.
• Year 12 and 13 take part in over twenty trips related to A-level and vocational studies, including lectures, conferences and fieldwork visits. They attend a higher education conference and have the opportunity to go to university open days either individually or as part of a group.
• Year 12/13 grographers have the opportunity of day visits to the north Norfolk coast, London’s Docklands and Cambridge.
• Year 12 students attend a Masterclass at Cambridge University on particle physics.
• Year 13 biology students go on a field trip to Grafham Water to obtain field results for their ecology project.
• Year 13 biology students attend a field trip where they develop their fieldwork skills as part of the A level curriculum.
• Musicians in Years 10 - 13 will be invited to an orchestral concert held in West Road Concert Hall where they will have the chance to open their minds to new music.

Residential Visits

Year 8 main language pupils are offered the opportunity to spend 4 or 5 days in France or Germany. On both trips, pupils use their language skills in the residential centre and in the local towns to make purchases, to ask for information and to do surveys in the target language. In France in 2009, pupils explored Bayeux (where they saw the tapestry), Arromanches (with its 360 degree cinema), a chocholate factory and the Normandy coast. In Germany in 2008, pupils visited a castle along the Rhine, travelling by boat along the Moselle, through the lock at Beilstein, explored the Roman ruins in Trier and stayed in a former Prussian fortress.

Year 9 and 10 pupils of German are invited to participate in a short exchange visit to Germany and an equivalent opportunity is currently being researched for Year 9 and 10 pupils of French. We are also planning a day trip for pupils in Years 9 and 10.

Year 12 and 13 students of French and German are offered the chnce to do work experience in their target language countries to gather resources for the preparation of the oral examination, to enjoy local specialities and to visit friends they had made in recent years. In the case of German, pupils spend a week in Germany totally immersed in German life and living with a German family but taking part in work experience. The students of French work on AS topics related to the world of work and on grammar as well as visit Paris where they gather materials and Disneyland where they interview unsuspecting tourists about matters relating to their oral topics.

Art

Year 12 students visit Venice to extend their knowledge of Art History

Geography

Since October 2000 groups of students from Year 10 to Year 12 have bi-annually travelled to Kenya establishing a link with a Kenyan school, visiting national parks, local tribes and the Rift Valley. The next visit in October 2010, however, is to South Africa - which again includes opportunities to go on safari and learn about the social/cultural geography of the country.

During Year 10 geography students have the opportunity to visit Iceland at the end of the summer term.

A level geographers visit the Snowdonia National Park to undertake practical geography fieldwork. Year 12 students visited North Norfolk studying coastal erosion, features, sand dunes and salt marshes, as well as visiting the London Docklands and Cambridge as part of their urban studies.

History

The history department has taken many residential trips over the years to Russia and World War 1 Battlefield sites. Every March Year 12 students visit Berlin as part of their AS studies on Germany 1933-63. Year 13 students visit Dublin as part of their studies of Irish History. Furthermore, another trip to China will take place in Autumn 2010, and a trip to Vietnam is being planned for 2011.

ICT

Year 12 AGCE students visit Disneyland near Paris, France to see how the organisation uses ICT to support its commercial operations.

RE and Ethics

Year 10 to 13 students have the opportunity to visit Auschwitz in Poland to learn about the events of the Holocaust. Here they visit the camps, listen to survivors and those awarded bravery medals for helping hide Jewish people during Nazi occupation. Years 11 to 13 can visit Rome to develop an understanding through visiting the historical sights of the importance of Rome in Christian history. Students also have a Papal audience. Sixth Form students attend a conference in New York to complement their studies on Philosophy and Black Theology.

Travel and Tourism

Students now have an opportunity to take part in a five day visit to New York - to study aspects of their course which include health, safety and security as well as customer service. The department also works with the faculty of Travel and Tourism at New York University where students participate in a number of seminars.  Travel and Tourism students also visit the Marriott Hotel at Huntingdon and Cadbury World during the first year of the course.

Ski Trip to Switzerland

Two ski trips are organised annually for students, which usually take place in February half-term and at Easter. Students opt for skiing or snowboarding, and there is an instructor for beginners, intermediate and advanced groups. The chalet accommodation is excellent and the evening entertainment programme is extensive. Next year the Sixth Form and Year 11 are going to Crans Montana in Switzerland, whilst Year 10 students will be going on a trip to Arosa, also in Switzerland.