Trips to New York, Berlin and the French Alps...

During the Easter Holidays, 63 Year 9 pupils donned their ski kit and set off for the resort of Les Menuires in the French Alps. The trip began with two days of snow, meaning it was not the easiest skiing conditions, especially for the beginner groups, but ensured that there was plenty of fresh powder. In the middle of the week there was excellent skiing conditions enabling them all to progress significantly and practise bits of off-piste skiing. The other activities that pupils were able to enjoy included ‘Speed Mountain’, an exhilarating 1,000 meter ride down the mountain and making the most of the local sports centre where they could play basketball, table tennis and badminton.

Berlin was the perfect destination for 50 Year 10 Historians, with GCSE units on 20th Century Germany and the start of the Cold War featuring heavily in many of Year 10’s History lessons this year. A great deal of currywurst was eaten and many miles were walked as students visited sites such as the Olympic Stadium, Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, and the site of the Potsdam Conference.

The trip was a great opportunity, albeit emotionally challenging, as they walked in the footsteps of Churchill and Stalin at Potsdam, and to see the concrete reminders of the divisions brought by the Cold War in the form of the Berlin Wall and its watchtowers.

The third trip in the Easter break, involved 23 Drama students having the pleasure to visit New York. Initially the weather was against them as they headed to the Empire State Building after a delicious dinner in Times Square so they were unable to fully appreciate the amazing views of Manhattan due to the fog. This, however, was followed by three days of sunshine, enjoying Times Square, Central Park, the beautiful Art Deco interior of Radio City Music Hall, The Statue of Liberty, the High Line walk, to name just a few of the sights.

Visiting Radio City Music Hall was a real highlight and pupils got to see how the acoustics worked in the main hall, as well as meeting one of the Rockette dancers. They also watched three shows – Chicago, New York, New York and Hades Town and found the set designs and dance routines breath-taking. Meeting and greeting the cast of Hades Town was a real bonus.

After seeing Chicago the Musical, pupils had the unique opportunity for a Q&A with one of the actresses. They were able to find out about life as an actor on Broadway and gained some useful tips for auditions. Pupils could put a face to the actor on stage and speaking to someone who experienced failures on their way to success was so inspiring.

Standing above the 9/11 Memorial was eye-opening and deeply moving as they witnessed the vast scale of the tragedy. The area was peaceful despite its location, and pupils walked in silence lost in thought when they saw the names listed around the Memorial. It was extraordinary and, despite its contrast to the rest of the trip, was one of the biggest highlights.

In all of these trips, the pupils were all excellent ambassadors for Kingswood School and relished the opportunity to go abroad with their peers and enjoy all that was on offer. A huge thank you to all of the staff who made it possible, and to all the pupils who were brilliant company from start to finish and couldn’t do enough to help the staff and each other