[ Events | Trips ]

MFL Trips and Exchanges

Year 8 Camp in France: Chateau Beaumont, Normandy

Chateau Beaumont The Year 8 camp took place in Normandy this year and 58 pupils, together with 6 staff, spent 4 days at Chateau Beaumont. Pupils had lots of fun doing a whole range of activities such as Zip Wire, Aeroball, Night Line as well as visiting the local market in Laval and a nearby cheese farm. Perhaps the most impressive site visited was Mont Saint Michel. Pupils got to speak lots of French, asking questions to market sellers as well as chatting to the French nationals who ran the Chateau. It was a fantastic few days, full of fun and cultural enrichment!

Spanish Trip to London to see the
Flamenco and Tutankhamun exhibition

On Sunday 16th March Blundell’s sixth form Spanish students took a day trip to London for a flavour of some renowned Spanish culture: a Flamenco dancing performance at Sadler’s Wells theatre. Spanish Trip to London Besides this we visited the Tutankhamun exhibition held in the O2 zone, formerly the Millennium Dome.

The journey to central London was made by Blundell’s minibus, arriving just after lunch. We had some free time to explore our immediate surroundings; most of us finishing up in the local market and gazing in amazement at the carefully crafted voodoo dolls made of string! Later we set out for the Tutankhamun exhibition; an exhibition displaying ancient Egyptian artefacts that have survived thousands of years, including Tutankhamun’s tomb. The illustrations and extent of detail that still existed on these artefacts were remarkable; and the history behind them just as interesting.

Having spent some time looking around the exhibition and trying to find our way through central London in the darkness, the minibus sped to a halt just outside the theatre and we jumped out and ran inside so as to get our places seconds before the show was about to start! The performances were enormously entertaining and very different to anything we had seen before; both the singing and dancing on stage, with the accompaniment of acoustic guitar. The singers sang with a loud passion and the dancing was energetic and fast. In fact, the show was such a hit that we left the theatre, along with other spectators, imitating the singing and the dancing!

I think the students that went on the trip will agree with me that it was a very enjoyable day out.

Christine Casely

Field Day Trip to Cardiff

Philip Allen French experience day for year 11 students

This field day a selection of GCSE year eleven students went to a Phillip Allen Conference entitled “A French Experience for students in Years 10 and 11.”
We went for a French day and learnt some new vocabulary and sentence structures. The day consisted of fun games and challenges for us to take part in. The two men who organised and led the day were “plein de vie” (full of life) and showed a keen interest in audience participation. A highlight of my day was when I shared the stage with Henrietta Mills, Hugh McDowell and Oliver Clarke to partake in a role play. We had to help a man with a hotel reservation, interpreting into French and English simultaneously. We each won a small prize!

I think the whole day was a really enjoyable insight into certain aspects of the French language. Everyone came away with a smile on their face and plenty of ideas for the approaching French exams.

A. Voysey

Year 8 Camp to Brittany, France

For the first time, the Year 8 camp took place in Brittany, France; just outside a small town called Guerlesquin.

We all met on Saturday at seven o’clock outside SH in the car-park. We then had to wait half an hour for the three lost minibuses. Once they finally arrived we piled all our stuff in the trailers and scrambled onto the buses. Brittany, 2007 After that we all travelled in a convoy to Plymouth ferry port, along with 60 packed lunches, 5 staff and Mr Brigden.

On the ferry we got given our room cards, split up into our cabins and told us lights out was quarter past eleven. This left us half an hour to either look around the boat or have a shower and be ready for the rough night.

We woke up at around seven in the morning which left us two hours until we arrived at Roscoff. Once we got off the ferry we were welcomed by rain and grey clouds. The hour and a half drive did not dampen our spirits like the rain.

We arrived at a mill house which belonged to one of the drivers called Mr Clifford Williams. Together we cleared out his small tractor and Citroën 2CV out of the garage, to make our meeting place and a shelter from the never ending rain.

In the afternoon of Sunday we watched Harry Potter 4 on the projector in the garage, still waiting for the rain to stop. The girls had to sleep in the basement of the house and the boys in the garage. After the boys refused to sleep on the gravel floor of the garage, Pilbo and Mr Case gave a tent-pitching lesson and the boys (And a few girls), put up their tents in the rain.

Monday morning we woke up in time for the breakfast which was at half eight. This breakfast consisted of a cereal, some warm French bread and a squashed croissant. Around ten we went to the market in a nearby town and spent an hour there. Most people considered the pizza shop to be the main attraction. Next we went to an Ecology museum which showed the farmer within us. The man also showed us how to make clogs in his small workshop. In the evening we went to a large French café and the menu was as follows: -

Chips, more chips, Bim (orange flavoured drinks), some ham, bread and ice-cream. After this there was karaoke at the campsite.

Tuesday morning was very similar to Monday but some of the boys played football whilst everyone else went shopping. Brittany, 2007 Once everyone had finished we made our way to the treetops adventure course. Here there were high ropes, Zip-wires and many more challenges.

Wednesday, we went to the coastal beach somewhere along the coast. As soon as we arrived we dumped our bags on the sand and the more dedicated people ran a mile to get to the sea. The rest stopped and ran back.

After lots of fun (burying people) we went sands-Yachting which was very fun also. Unfortunately for them two groups went to the Chateau somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Lunch was more baguettes and after the yachting we went to camp and hid in our tents.

In the evening was the slide-show of the photos that Mrs Menheneott had secretly taken. This was quite embarrassing for lots of people. Also the teachers awarded embarrassing prises e.g Vanity will keep us warm awards (awarded to lots of girls!).

Thursday breakfast was earlier, at seven thirty. We packed our tents and found our things. Next we packed the buses, and set off for Morlaix. We arrived at eleven and had three hours to shop. We left at 2 for the ferry and were only just on time to catch it.

We then had no rooms, six hours and a weeks worth of tiredness. Finally we arrived in Plymouth at nine and then headed back to Blundell’s.

Not even the rain could dampen our spirits all week and we all had a fantastic Year 8 camp!

JH-R and OC

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Spanish Exchange

The Spanish department organizes an exchange on a yearly basis. We are twinned with a school in Valladolid, which is an historic city to the north-west of Madrid. The groups usually consist of around twelve pupils from years 11 and 12. Occasionally year 13 pupils participate, but they more often visit Spain on their own, especially if they intend to study Spanish at university. The Spanish party come to Tiverton in October, and we go to Valladolid in April, during the Easter holidays. We usually manage to arrange the dates so that both parties are able to spend a few days in the partner school, and some time with families. Group excursions also form part of the visit. All concerned find it a most valuable and enjoyable experience.

The Spanish exchange cannot take place during this academic year (2008/9), but we expect one to take place next year.

2007 Spanish exchange group with the Mayor of Tiverton, visiting the museum