Twelve Fifth Form pupils and three members of staff excitedly boarded a plane to Nice for a week in the sun, ready to be immersed in French culture, food and, of course, the language. 

Pupils were initially daunted by the prospect of staying with families who, in some cases, couldn’t speak a word of English, but they quickly realised that they were so much better at French than they thought. 

Mornings were spent at the language school, where the focus was on speaking skills for their mock exams, and they weren’t allowed to speak any English at all. This was tough at first, but it got easier very quickly. During their free time, we were lucky to see some of the most exclusive properties in the world on Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, eat delicious Corsican ice cream in Villefranche-sur-Mer, and admire the extravagant yachts and cars in Monte Carlo. 

They stopped off at the beautiful medieval village of Eze, for a tour of a parfumerie, before having a go at making our own - with mixed results. 

The week was topped off with a guided tour of old Nice, where pupils successfully understood over three hours of spoken French, and were rewarded with crêpes and a trip to a confiserie at the end. 

A week is certainly not enough to become fluent, but it gave pupils a huge confidence boost, and they had a lot of fun, too.

Thirty-nine First and Second Former pupils from both Scott House and The Berrystead arrived in Rome on the first Saturday evening of Half Term for a whirlwind tour of life in the ancient world.  

Sunday was spent in the ancient city of Ostia, the port of Rome, where they explored the lives of ordinary Romans: apartment blocks, baths, fulleries, a well-equipped bakery, places of worship, bars, shops and the forum. The Second Form even put on a play in the Roman theatre. The weather was perfect, and lunch under the shade of umbrella pines surrounding the Temple of Ceres was idyllic.  

On Monday the pupils examined the lives of extraordinary Romans. They visited the Colosseum in the morning, and learnt all about the building itself, as well as the gladiatorial contests. After a pizza lunch on the steps beside Trajan’s Column, they went round the Palatine (including a magnificent new display of sound and light in Augustus’ own house) and the Forum, seeing the Temple set up to Julius Caesar on the site of his cremation.  

Tuesday was spent understanding some of the legacy of Rome. A visit to the Time Elevator took pupils from the birth of Rome through to the Renaissance, and then the highlight of the tour for several: the Pantheon. A quick visit to the Piazza Navona, once a race track built by the emperor Domitian, finished off this packed trip.

In Rome you do not just see history, you touch history!

For the first time in 20 years, the History department returned to Israel during the Half Term with a small group of Sixth Formers to follow in the footsteps of the Crusaders, a subject now studied as a strong component in many of the Pre-U History courses. 

Our first short walk through Jaffa set the tone for the trip - we heard references to Napoleon and Nelson, Aphrodite and the Kraken, the foundations of Christianity and the murky past of British Palestine, all in sight of the world’s largest store of Bauhaus architecture at Tel Aviv. Later that same day, we heading north up the coast where we were able to put the Holy Land in its broadest historical context, from Roman times at Herod’s amazing city of Caesarea, through the Crusades themselves, and into the more modern world of Israel at Akko. 

From the battlefields of the Golan Heights and the Horns of Hattin, to the places of worship of three faiths centred around the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, history and faith oozed from every location we went to. We were also fortunate to see so many different facets of the modern Middle East, largely through the rare knowledge and talent of our guide, Eli, who we hope to welcome to Oundle at some point in the future.

I Clark

During October half term, seven Sixth Form pupils studying German travelled to Berlin and Leipzig to improve their German skills and broaden their cultural knowledge of the country. Highlights included a visit to the Abgeordnetenhaus (Berlin’s parliament building) where we joined discussions on topics such as Brexit, a meeting with Greenpeace about climate change, and a visit to the multi-cultural Kreuzberg with a guide from Lebanon who had grown up there.

In the evenings we attended two theatre productions. The first, Klassenbuch, was a contemporary production about 21st century social issues that affect youth today. The acting was astounding, although the colloquial language was a challenge for us. The second play was an improvised production in the style of Alfred Hitchcock, where the audience decides various elements of the play, such as location and props. We were very impressed by the quick wit of the cast. 

For the last few days of the trip, we stayed in Schulpforte, a boarding school about 40 minutes from Leipzig, set in a former monastery with cloisters, historic stone buildings, and surrounded by beautiful green meadows. We went to lessons with the pupils and enjoyed experiencing a different school system. The nearby town of Naumburg is home to the Naumburger Dom, a cathedral that has just been approved as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and it was truly awe-inspiring. 

For our last day, we went to Weimar, home to Goethe and Nietzsche. The cultural atmosphere was delightful, and we also enjoyed a lunch of pork, sauerkraut and dumplings!     

Ruben Sector (S)

MedSoc and ScottSoc were pleased to welcome for the first talk of the year Dr Marco Lee, a Fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Pathologists. His initial medical training was at the University of Cambridge before completing his medical microbiology training at the London School of Tropical Medicine. 

He came to present an engaging talk titled “Pathology and the Glamour of CSI”. His main focus point throughout the talk was about diseases and in particular diseases which affect the heart. He explained how pathologists are like the CSI who investigate and determine what has killed someone. He provided some shocking anecdotes that helped to show how important pathologists are. 

One story in particular was about a patient who was not acting or behaving in a normal manner and after being referred to many specialists none could determine what was wrong. As he was older his family was going to put him in a caring home. However, when samples were sent to a pathologist, they were able to detect a pathogen and give him the right antibiotics which corrected his behaviour and allowed him to return to normal life. 

Dr Lee also explained the wide variety of career roles that can be taken by someone interested in medicine or medical research, and very kindly recorded an interview for the next OSCAR radio broadcast. Finally, the following day, Dr Lee put a number of the U6 pupils through their paces by giving them mock Oxbridge NatSci and medical interviews.

Jessica Cardwell (N)

Oundle School Debating Society was delighted to host the first annual Balloon Debate for pupils in Years 7 and 8. Competitors from six other schools attended: Prince William School, Stamford Boys, Stamford Girls, Kings School Peterborough, Catmose College and Thomas Deacon Academy. 

The pupils gave speeches on the theme of characters from children's literature, and impressed the judges with their eloquence and enthusiasm. 

All competing pupils were excellent, and adjudicators Chris Coles (former Head of English at Stamford High School), James Scruby (from the English Speaking Union) and Tatiana North (representing Oundle School Debating Society), were extremely impressed. 

Pupils who made it through to the second round were: Rachel Chisnall of Prince William School, representing Peter Rabbit; Harrison Lang playing Tinkerbell, and Archie Haddon depicting Alex Rider, both from Catmose College. Tinkerbell won in the final adjudication, with Peter Rabbit taking the popular vote.  

At Sunday’s Service of Remembrance to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, the School Chaplain, Reverend Brian Cunningham dedicated a new, specially commissioned cross for Oundle’s Chapel.

The cross was commissioned by Harry Williamson (StA 55) as a gift to the Chapel, and designed by Anthony Elson, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, and a well-known silversmith and designer. 

Made of brass to match the existing candlesticks, the design quietly reflects the architecture of the 1920s Chapel, as well as the styling of John Piper’s stained glass from the 1950s. At the centre is a poppy of enamelled silver, acknowledging the dedication of the Chapel as a memorial to the Oundle pupils who fell in the First World War.

During the First World War over 1,200 men from Oundle School and Laxton School joined the war effort, and 260 old boys with an average age of 23, and four members of staff lost their lives in the conflict. Over the last four years Oundle has joined the nation in commemorating the centenary of the War, observing the men’s sacrifice with a range of activities and occasions across the School. 

Beginning on November 11 2014, the whole school gathered on the Chapel lawn for a Drumhead Service accompanied by a piper’s lament, and concluding with each pupil casting a poppy into a field of 260 crosses. Early in 2015 a statue of Eric Yarrow (G 1913), sculpted by Alex Johnsen (F 2014), was installed by the west door of the Chapel in a service of commemoration attended by the Yarrow family. 

Another Old Oundelian, playwright Eddie Elks (StA 1999) paid tribute to flying ace Cecil Lewis (S 1915) with a specially commissioned play that was performed by pupils in the Stahl Theatre. 

Former Head of History Colin Pendrill was appointed Yarrow Fellow to research and write a new, comprehensive update of the 1920 Oundle Memorials. His book, And We Were Young, was published in 2018 and the individual memorials from his book were published on the School website on the anniversary of each OO’s death in a lasting Roll of Honour. In a library-based project, every Third Form pupil conducted their own research on an individual OO who died in the War, which was followed annually in the Fourth Form by a CCF trip to The Somme where the CCF Band played the Last Post at the Menin Gate and Thiepval Memorial, and pupils visited the cemeteries and memorials where OOs are commemorated. 

In the final week of the centenary, the School Archive curated an exhibit in the Yarrow Gallery of documents, artefacts and photographs from the war era, including medals, diaries and a signal announcing the ceasefire. 

Throughout the duration of the centenary, the History department organised a morning service of remembrance led by Reverend Cunningham in the cloisters on the anniversary of each death, providing a vivid parallel experience of the scale of loss suffered by the School community during the war. 

Finally, on the occasion of the centenary of the Armistice, a new cross, specially commissioned by Harry Williamson (StA 1955), was unveiled in the Chapel, followed by a gathering of the whole School on the Chapel lawn for a final Drumhead Service.

On Wednesday afternoon two Fourth Form pupils, Ella Aisher (W) and Rohan Scott (Sc), Head of English, Richard Smith, and Head of Languages, Sara Davidson, attended the prestigious Chartered Institute of Linguists Award Ceremony held at The Law Society in London. 

The evening was held to celebrate excellence in languages and prizes were awarded to the top scorers in the CIOL's translation and interpreting exams. As the top scorers at Oundle in German and Spanish respectively in the new CIOL “Real Lives” examination held in June, Ella and Rohan were invited to the event.

The 'Real Lives' examination is a multiple choice listening examination for Fourth Form pupils in which candidates have to understand real life emergency scenarios where accurate communication is critical. It tests their language skills in adventure and leadership situations, linked to the services and the sorts of situations CCF cadets might find themselves in. 

In the June exam, Ella and Rohan had to understand a conversation between a ship's commander and the coastguard following a Mayday Call, as well as a conversation between an officer and someone who had witnessed a lorry being hijacked during a protest. 

Ella and Rohan were applauded for being the School's top scorers. The evening ended with a short, but inspirational speech by BBC Security Correspondent and Arabist Frank Gardner OBE, who was awarded the David Crystal Trophy for his work using languages. 

"Languages are an incredible passage to another world. They are the doors that take you to a new world, very much like Narnia. Learn a little bit in many languages and you won’t believe how far it will take you. They’re the best thing ever for me,” he said.

This year’s Biology Week Photography Competition attracted over 120 submissions from pupils and staff. Pupils and staff captured their enthusiasm for the natural world in an array of stunning images taken on travels to far-flung locations, as well as from close observation of flora and fauna in the back garden. From emerging fungi in the lawn and cat fights in the street to icebergs in Finland and wild dogs in Africa, pupils discovered new wonders in the natural world and recorded their impressions and observations in photographs worthy of professional publications. The judges had a very difficult time selecting the award winners. The top awards went to:

Overall Winner and Sixth Form Winner: Imogen Peckett (K) 

Overall Runner-up and Third Form Winner: Willow White (L) 

Overall Finalist and First and Second Form Winner:  Thomas Kemp (Sco)

Overall Finalist: Emily Horrocks-Taylor (L)

Overall Finalist: Harry Ratchford (L)

Fourth and Fifth Form Winner: Monai Rattanadilokchai (F) 

Six delegates from Oundle were involved in this year’s Oxford Global MUN, writing resolutions, proposing amendments and contributing to the debate. 

Four of them represented the views of Mauritius, which became the subject of several resolutions due to the environmental threat of rising sea levels. The other two delegates played the roles of a Japanese judge at the international Court of Justice, and an American Senator on the Furture Crisis Committee. 

Two of our pupils were recognised in the awards ceremony - Angelo Giacco (L) got an honourable mention for his contribution to the Commission on Science and Technology for Development, and Danila Mikhaylov (C) went up on stage to receive a gavel for “best delegate” in his committee, the International Court of Justice.  The pupils got a taste of the Oxford University experience. The opening ceremony was in The Sheldonian, the committees were in the Examination Schools and pupils had lunch in Balliol College. The conference was superbly run by undergraduates from Oxford University, and involved pupils from 77 schools, including many from overseas.

Heads, governors, academy leaders and senior staff representing all four schools in the town of Oundle, alongside Thomas Deacon Academy and Kettering Buccleuch Academy, gathered in the Great Hall last week for the official launch of their new partnership, the Oundle, Peterborough and East Northants (OPEN) Learning Partnership.

Other guests included Oundle’s Mayor Jerry Hutton, former MP Andy Sawford and university representatives from Oxford and Goldsmiths. Janet McMurdo, Head Teacher at Oundle CE Primary School opened the evening to mark the latest phase of this local initiative, and the evening was rounded off by a joint presentation by Oundle Head Sarah Kerr-Dineen and Liz Dormor, Principal of Prince William School. Julie Taylor, CEO of the Thomas Deacon Education Trust, delivered the evening’s keynote speech on ‘The Potential of Partnership’.

The OPEN Learning Partnership is a collaboration between primary and secondary schools from both maintained and independent sectors which aims to offer opportunity and experience that individual schools could not offer alone, allowing pupils to work with, and be challenged by others of similar ability or interest. Each member school will promote and facilitate access for pupils and teachers to partnership activities, and act as host for events which take place in their school. Activities in recent years have included science events, maths conferences, engineering challenges, open lectures, debates and shared professional meetings of teachers.

The founding Chair of the OPEN Learning Partnership is Gordon Montgomery, Head of Community Partnerships at Oundle. “This formal partnership is just the next phase of maturing school-to-school connections which have grown in recent years. Every school in this partnership has expertise to contribute in order to help address our common areas for improvement.”
 

The Badminton Club enjoyed significant success at recent county competitions.

Daphne Ngan (N) won the Northamptonshire Badminton Association (NBA) senior ladies singles championship this year, after being runner-up last year, making her the best singles player in the county. She then went on to represent Northamptonshire in the second team in the Badminton England senior county competition. 

At the NBA U19 county championships on 11 November, Daphne also won the girls U19 singles title for the second year, her sister Dawn (By) came third. Brian Cheng (C) won the U19 boys singles, and was joined in the semis by Eugene Lau (StA) and Ian Chung (StA). In the doubles Brian and Ian were runners-up, with Krit Pichetvanichock (StA) and Eugene also making the semi-finals. Daphne and Dawn were runners-up in the girls doubles.

Dawn made her debut for the Shires League in the U16 county team against Warwickshire, winning both of her doubles games and narrowly losing her singles against strong opposition.

This year’s Young Geographer of the Year competition gave pupils the opportunity to explore the geography of the Arctic, and Ed Hodgson (Sc) took up the challenge, writing a 1500 word essay on aspects of climate change and economic activity in the Arctic.

His work impressed the judges and was awarded High Commended.

This year, the Society received 1,100 entries from over 260 schools. Ed’s award was one of four presented to pupils in the A level category. The awards were presented by Henry Burgess, head of the Natural Environment Research Council Arctic office, at an awards ceremony at the Society on Wednesday 28 November.

Each year the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) and Geographical run a national competition for pupils aged between nine and 18, which encourages students to engage with a specific geographical topic. This year the topic focused on the Arctic. It is home to four million people, supports an abundance of uniquely adapted wildlife, and plays an important role in moderating the world’s climate system. However, the Arctic is a dynamic environment that is undergoing change. How do these changes affect the Arctic itself and the rest of the world?

The Royal College of Music String Band made a welcome return to Oundle to play a diverse programme of works with Oundle musicians in one of the most remarkable concerts in recent years. 

The concert opened with a colourful and sensitive account of Poulenc’s masterful Organ Concerto. The RCM String Band created a vivid tonal landscape in support of a commanding and well coloured performance by Quentin Thomas, Director of Music at Oundle. The dramatic pacing and interchange between the organ and strings was directed with great artistry by Mark Messenger, Head of Strings RCM.

This was followed by a compelling account of Shostakovich’s highly autobiographical Chamber Symphony. This piece is a reworking of his 8th string quartet by the conductor Rudolph Barshai. Dramatic pacing was exemplary and the full range of tonal intensity available within a string orchestra playing at such a high level, was breath-taking. The cello solo, taken from Shostakovich’s troubled opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk was played exquisitely by the principal cellist and recent string class finalist in BBC Young Musician of the Year.

In the Beethoven Eroica the RCM String Band merged with Oundle School Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Angus Gibbon, Head of Strings Oundle, sitting side-by-side in an orchestra with a string section of the size unparalleled in any professional setting (22 first violins, 26 second violins, 12 violas, 14 cellos, and 7 double basses). Those audience members sitting at the front were hit with a wall of sound that few would ever have experienced before. The scale of the first movement is monumental and the concentration levels required from all of the players supersede any activity in normal school life. 

Led by Jerome Broun, Head of Woodwind, the contributions of the wind and brass sections were highly impressive in an exemplary performance of a notoriously challenging work. 

The concert concluded with a performance of two movements from Handel’s Firework Music. The orchestra was further augmented with a section of nine oboes, three bassoons and nine trumpets. The sound was majestic; Handel himself would have been impressed. As the final chord sounded, the audience in the Chapel was encouraged to join the rest of the school community to enjoy the fireworks display for November 5th. 

Pupils in the Music department had an extraordinary opportunity to work with violinist Yibin Li is during a busy day of masterclasses, workshops and performances.

After early morning rehearsals in the Music department, Yibin visited Laxton Junior School where she was welcomed by Laxton Junior School’s Senior String Ensemble directed by Helen Smith and accompanied by Ben Smith on piano. 

Yibin then performed Shostakovich Duets with Angus Gibbon (Head of Strings) and Alec Hone (Head of Keyboard) from Oundle School. The audience was given the opportunity to ask questions, and in reply, received much encouragement to work hard and aim high.

More classes followed back at the Gascoigne, where the younger players were impressive. She suggested to several of them that they should seriously consider being a violinist. 

Her afternoon classes were for the most advanced players, some of whom recently took Dip ABRSM and LRSM examinations. Each pupil was offered encouragement and both technical and musical advice, and there was immediate progress for all to hear.

Late in the afternoon, Yibin returned to rehearse with the strings section of the Chamber Orchestra. She also listened to and advised Chon Tanchtikul (By) and Tom Hood (Ldr) as they rehearsed their movements from Vivaldi Seasons with the orchestra. 

The evening concert was a mixture of solo performances, some with orchestra and others with piano. After each performance Yibin offered praise alongside succinct and constructive advice for each performer.

Yibin performed the short song, Beau Soir, written by Debussy and transcribed for violin by Heifitz. Her playing was exquisite and masterful with subtle colouring and a real sense of atmosphere with highly sensitive accompaniment from Madoka Maxwell.

Great fun and music making of the highest order followed with the Senior Strings performing alongside Yibin and Angus Gibbon. From the outset the musical lines were projected with great clarity and the whole ensemble – undirected - played as if it was a small chamber ensemble. Section leaders took command of entries and ensemble and great credit go to Sophie Lee (L) and Jungho Lee (StA), Ken Zhao (StA), Harrison Smith (F) and Alex Hill (C) for their contributions.

Oundle Strings, directed by Helen Smith, then gave a sensitive account of the Waltz from the Greatest Showman.

The evening concluded with all of Oundle String players performing Sibelius Andante Festivo. Here the sound of 85 players, united in purpose and playing at full capacity, produced an astonishingly rounded string sound that brought the whole visit to a fitting conclusion. 

Born during the turbulent times of the Cultural Revolution in China, Yibin Li’s first violin was salvaged from a pile of instruments that had been thrown out of a school because of the decadent bourgeois values related to western classical music by Mao Zedong.

Her musical journey, under the teaching of her father, one of the leading violin teachers in China led to a professorship at the leading music conservatory in Shanghai. Wishing to develop further, she then took up a scholarship to Juilliard in New York.

At a recent Society event for historians and Chinese linguists, Oundle pupils welcomed Jonathan Dugdale from the University of Birmingham, who came to deliver a talk about the Liao dynasty (907 - 1219). 

Located in Northern China, including Manchuria and Mongolia, the dynasty had a lot of influence on the region for centuries to come. Ruled by the Khitan people, the Liao dynasty was the first port of call for Western merchants travelling along the Silk Road. This lead to the Khitan people initially shaping foreign perception of China. In fact, the word Cathay’s etymology comes from Khitan, as does the Kitay, the name for China in many languages. 

Nevertheless, for centuries scholars had thought that the contemporary Song dynasty had yielded much more power and had had greater influence. Despite military superiority, the Liao dynasty rarely appeared in history textbooks due to the fact that the Song were more culturally similar to modern China, recorded much more and spoke Chinese. Due to an ingrained inferiority complex, they consistently referred to the Liao dynasty as “the barbarians”, deepening the perception of the Liao as an inferior dynasty with little influence. 

Through his study of how Chinese architecture developed, in particular, that of pagodas, Dugdale has shown that neither dynasty had more influence, rather they had local spheres of influence, which for the Liao included even included much of what is now North Korea. Most shockingly, he also noted how developments in the understanding of the Khitan language (a proto-Mongolic language no longer spoken today) have revealed that the Song actually paid an annual indemnity to the Khitan. This has radically changed the perception of the Liao dynasty. 

In his conclusion, Dugdale even challenged the notion of the possibility of there being a history of China. He concluded that his studies and others by his colleagues at the University of Birmingham, suggest that such a history is impossible, rather the history of China should be considered as the history of a southern and northern region, where an overlap in leadership is the exception as opposed to the rule. A troubling idea for the Chinese Communist Party no doubt. 

Angelo Giacco (L)

The Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU) and Peking University returned to Oundle last week to present certificates and prizes to winners of the 2018 Joseph Needham Essay Competition. 

This competition was also open to pupils at St George’s School, Harpenden, and two £100 prizes were awarded, one to each school. Pupils were asked to write an essay drawing on someone from Britain or China, past or present, who has contributed to Anglo-Chinese understanding and friendship. They were asked to illustrate lessons from their approach and behaviours which are helpful pointers for young people seeking to become successful global citizens today.

Thomas Caskey (L) wrote a fantastic essay on Deng Xiaoping and was awarded a cheque for £100 as the winner. He set out very clearly his definition of a 'global citizen' and made a good case for Deng Xiaoping.

Runner-up prizes were awarded to Rohan Scott (Sc), who wrote about AC Scott and William Crane (Ldr) who wrote about Li Hongzhang in a very brave essay on a difficult subject, including a good description of one of China's great 'modernisers' which, in the 19th century meant embracing western technology. 

Joseph Needham played a large role in improving Anglo-Chinese connections. Originally a student at Oundle (Grafton 1918), Needham studied biochemistry at Cambridge and later became Master of Gonville and Caius College. Needham is best known for his magnum opus, Science and Civilisation in China, for which he wrote the first 15 volumes about Chinese technological achievement. 

At the start of the Christmas holiday, the Geography department took a group of pupils on an exciting trip to Costa Rica. We were met at the airport by our lovely guide, Mario, who accompanied us for the whole trip. 

On the first day we had an early 4.00am start, and drove to the Caribbean coast of the country were we fit in kayaking, walking and snorkelling. While kayaking we spotted our first sloths, iguanas and monkeys, which was amazing. At the end of the day we went to our hotel on a black sand beach. In the evening it rained heavily, and we woke on the second day to the sound of the howler monkeys.

In the morning we went on a tour down a river where we saw porcupine, iguanas, sloths and many different types of birds. After the boat tour we drove to an organic pineapple plantation to learn about pineapple farming. We had the sweetest pineapple that we had ever tasted, it was incredible. 

After spending the second night at an amazing hotel with an infinity pool overlooking the rainforest, we drove to the La Paz Waterfall Gardens which also had some enclosures with many different types of Costa Rican animals including frogs, birds, big cats and butterflies. In the afternoon we walked under and around the big waterfalls of the park. 

On the fourth day we went caving in the Venado Caves in the morning and went on a walk up an old volcanic lava flow in the foothills of Mt Arenal in the afternoon. In the evening we spent some time at the Ecotermales Baths, a thermal hot spring heated by the volcano.  

On the fifth and penultimate day we crossed lake Arenal by boat and then drove to a coffee, cocoa and sugar cane plantation where they explained how coffee, chocolate and sugar is made, along with their diversification into ecotourism.

On the final day we went zip-lining through the Monteverde cloud forest with volcanoes on the horizon, including Mt Arenal. It was so much fun and a great way to end the trip that we’ll remember forever

Bella Blanchard (Sn)

At the end of the Michaelmas term, the History department took Fifth Form GCSE pupils to Berlin to see the sites where the Germans conceived and launched their campaigns leading up to and during WWII, and to understand how Germany had recovered from that experience. 

On our first evening we went straight out to see the iconic Reichstag, and then the Brandenburg Gate, a powerful and impressive sight, dramatically lit.

The second day included a tour of the Olympic Stadium, the site of so many historic encounters, and also a good look round the German History Museum.

The prison at Plotzensee, the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen, the Holocaust Memorial and the villa at Wannsee where the Final Solution was conceived, provided chilling evidence of humanity at its worst.

On the final full day, we visited the Palace of Tears, the crossover point from East to West Berlin where people’s futures were decided. We also saw the Stasi interrogation centre and the harrowing prison at Hohenschonhausen. 

After full days of touring, we enjoyed evening cultural performances, including the ballet, opera and music. We were all impressed by a large-scale revue with over 100 dancers, musicians and artists that combined music, theatre and technology with marvellous results. 

We could have spent many more days in Berlin. Stepping outside the classroom with our teachers as guides was not only invaluable preparation for our exams, but it was a tremendous experience that we will not forget.  

Joseph Meisner (L)