31 senior historians and three staff set off early on the first Saturday of the February half-term to Berlin. A long coach ride was in prospect, but spirits were high – probably the thought of a slap-up breakfast on the ferry. The journey ended at the Meininger hostel in Berlin at 10.30 that evening. After the usual scramble for the top bunks, everyone turned in ready for a big day on Sunday.

The day started with a walking tour of key points in Nazi and Communist history, including the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the Russian war memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, the Holocaust memorial, the site of Hitler's Chancellery and infamous bunker and the remains of the Wall. Our extremely knowledgeable guides made this a fascinating tour.

After lunch and the chance to warm up, the next stop was the Checkpoint Charlie museum.  Reading stories of the partition of Berlin and people's attempts to flee the East, in many cases seeing the actual items in which they hid or transported themselves (a sometimes strange collection of suitcases, cars, hot air balloons and even guitar amplifiers) was an interesting and often moving experience. Our last stop that day was the Topography of Terror outdoor museum, where, despite the freezing conditions, the students listened intently to explanations of how the Nazis conducted their reign of terror before and during WWII.

Monday morning gave the students a chance to explore Berlin under their own steam before visiting the Hohenschönhausen Memorial Centre, a former Stasi prison. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable, having been imprisoned for attempting to escape to West Berlin in the early ‘80s. The conditions that prisoners were forced to survive in and the stories of torture and poor treatment that they endured were shocking. A visit to the Jewish museum, which houses exhibitions telling 2,000 years of Jewish history in Europe, rounded off a busy day.

On our final day in Berlin, we returned to the Brandenburg Gate for photo opportunities and then to the Reichstag for a tour round the hugely impressive dome. In the afternoon, we went to Sachsenhausen, a Nazi concentration camp built in the outskirts of Berlin for opponents of the regime. The remains of the camp, pictured here, provided a sobering reminder of how the Nazis dealt with their enemies. Once again our guide was excellent, conveying a real sense of what it might have been like to live and work in such a place.  This was a fitting end to an excellent trip, during which the students were a credit to themselves and the School. Everyone enjoyed Berlin and came home having learned a huge amount from this very hands-on experience.

Year 9 History trip to the WWI Battlefields, 12^th-13^th March

Another History trip, another early start… At 7.00 in the morning 55 intrepid Year 9 students and six staff set out for Ypres for a two day visit. It was cloudy, but managed to stay largely dry, always a bonus.

The first day was centred around the Ypres salient, with visits to Hill 60 – where the British exploded a series of huge mines to take the German positions – as well as Sanctuary Wood and Hill 62 – a key location in the fighting in the later battles for Ypres – where students were able to experience the trenches for themselves.

The ceremony at the Menin Gate

When we moved on to Tyne Cot cemetery (the largest British and Commonwealth cemetery in the world), the students were moved by the sheer scale of what they were seeing, as was the case at the Menin gate for the Last Post ceremony in the evening. The allied memorials, while very sad, are in many ways very uplifting, and students saw the contrast with the German cemetery at Langemarck, a dark and forbidding place.

The second day started with visits to the Wellington Quarry, a series of huge tunnels dug under Arras to hide 24,000 British troops prior to a huge assault on the German lines, and Notre Dame de Lorette, a museum and trench reconstruction next to the

The Thiepval Memorial

cemetery housing the tomb of the French unknown soldier. Before heading back to Calais, students visited the huge and imposing memorial to the dead of the Somme at Thiepval.

After a tiring but valuable two days, we arrived home on time (apart from the coach which missed its time slot on the shuttle), in one piece (apart from the coach which broke down in Ypres) and unscathed (apart from Henry and his broken finger). I love it when a plan comes together!

Simon Davies

Head of History