Our first time to Kew Gardens and what a fantastic trip! The students were given a series of photographic and sketching tasks to complete, in each of the areas we visited at Kew. Upon arrival, we wandered through the beautiful parkland to the Temperate House, where students began to complete the given tasks. The weather was fabulous, so we then had a picnic in the parkland and judged the best of the two batches of homemade chocolate brownies, made by two of our students. All the 6 staff and 61 students then went to the Palm House and Princess of Wales Conservatory to complete the remaining tasks. The students managed to even get some shopping done, and hopefully, the lucky parents will be delighted with their new cuddly toys or cactus plants!!!!!

On the return home journey, two students were awarded a box of chocolates each for producing work of exceptional quality whilst at Kew Gardens. Congratulations to Izzy Witheyman (Photography) and Ellie Pinch (Art).

One of our favourite drawings by a student was of a cartoon character holding up a placard that said, “I hate nature”. You can take a horse to water but……….

The students will produce work back at school from all their studies at Kew Gardens and these will be included in their GCSE portfolios of work.

Needless to say, the students were an absolute delight, and we hope they thoroughly enjoyed the visit. It will be a permanent fixture on our annual calendar from now on.