A dedicated page to school organised trips where you will find blog updates from teaching staff and/or students. You will be able to read all about what students have been up to on day trips, as well as day-to-day activities and view their site seeing experiences while abroad.
Germany Trip Eve.
Staff and students are currently getting excited for the 2022 trip to Germany.
Don't forget to check your packing lists and remember to bring your Christmas spirit, maybe some snacks and a good book for the journey!
We will be leaving school tomorrow at 12:00 and should arrive in Wolfsburg at about 20:30.
Regularly updates will appear here throughout the trip.
The Paris trip has landed on French soil, after a smooth crossing. We are heading over to Vimy Ridge battlefield now, before heading to our hotel in Paris later this afternoon.
On Thursday 1 December, an intrepid group of Y12 and 13 Literature students braved Northampton Station and the wilds of central London accompanied by Mr Ullmann, in full ‘airport Dad’ mode, and Mrs Coe.
The journey there and back was smooth sailing and provided opportunities for refreshments and lots of laughter.
The poetry conference itself was excellent with opportunities to speak to the actual poets who students study, buy their poetry collections and even get them signed by the poets. All three of the studied poets who discussed their poems Patience Agbabi, Vikki Feaver and Ian Duhig, were fascinating in their own unique ways.
Students and teachers alike were encouraged to spend two minutes writing an Ode to something random during a discussion of Tim Turnbull’s Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn and one of these have been included below for your enjoyment!
The Visual Art department took 65 Year 7 students to London on Tuesday to visit the National Gallery. The students were given an "Art style" scavenger hunt, where they had to find 10 different works of art using the clues given. Once they had completed this task, the students then undertook the second task of finding art works they liked and producing accurate drawing of them; these included, a portrait, a landscape, a sculpture, an abstract work and an artwork made from mainly "Line", which is the Formal Element they are currently studying in our subject area.
The students were a delight and members of the public commented on how good they thought their direct observation drawing was... clearly, we have some very good budding young artists at CCS. We wanted to thank parents for supporting this visit and giving the students the opportunity of such a rewarding and enriching experience.
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Today was a rather more laid back affair.
In the morning, after packing our cases and vacating the rooms, we headed out to meet the Spanish students again or to visit the local shopping centre for some last minute gift buying. We met again at the beautiful market in the centre of town where students were encouraged to try something new for lunch, a Spanish speciality.
After lunch, students could choose to chill by the pool, shop if they hadn't already or siesta. We were all really exhausted by then.
Then finally we were on our way home! A coach journey, flight and another coach journey later and at 1.15am on Sunday 9th October, we all arrived safely back into the school car park.
100% of the students who completed the feedback form said they would recommend the trip and the vast majority spoke more Spanish than they expected and felt a lot more positive towards their Spanish studies now. For me, that is a huge success. But what made this trip most special, was the students themselves. They behaved so very well throughout our 5 days away and were such good company. They did themselves, their families and the school proud.
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Off to PortAventura today, Spain's biggest theme park. Whilst the weather forecast did not look great, the sun shined on us all day and everyone had a great time. The park was decorated for Hallowe'en and there were many ghoulish characters around the site adding to the fun, but the rides were by far the biggest attractions. The jury was split on the "white ride", the highest rollercoaster with no loops and so no need for shoulder restraints! (I personally gave that a miss!). But the red (super-loopy) and blue (super fast) rides were enjoyed by all who rode on them. For those of us who felt the need for something "tamer", the water rides were a must but some of us were literally still ringing the water out of other clothing at the end of the day! It was a fabulous day, but the day was not over because we had a late night excursion timetabled.
At 10pm, we set off on my personal highlight of the trip. CCS is extremely fortunate to have links with Institut Antoni de Martí y Franques because, through those links, we had the rare opportunity to view one of the Colla Castelleras (Human Castle Schools) rehearse its towers. To see the strength, agility and, above all, team work of the Castellers was a real privilege, and we were all extremely impressed. The evening may be a once in a lifetime experience for some.
We had another very early start today as the headteacher of our partner school wanted to welcome us to Tarragona. The school is a very short walk from our hotel and is the biggest in Tarragona, but very different to ours. Our students were surprised that the Spanish students call all their teachers by their first names and that the teachers can wear whatever they like. And this goes for the headteacher, Jordí too, who greeted us in t-shirt, above ankle trackies and trainers with no socks! Imagine!
We had a guided tour of beautiful Tarragona in the morning and shortly after we set off visiting the Roman sites and the cathedral while learning about the importance of Tarragona in the region. The views from the top of the King's Castle across all of Tarragona were spectacular.
Then we set off for Sitges, another seaside town along the coast. Students had a really chilled afternoon which included a little shopping, beach football, paddling in the sea and relaxing in the sunshine.
Once again our students did us proud and our guides in Tarragona, who are also teachers, commented on how well they conducted themselves around the city.
Star of the day today has to be Mr Colman who provided the much loved coach disco on the way back to the hotel, although his choice of music did sometimes leave much to be desired.
Wow! What a day! It was an early start which some did find rather challenging but then off we set for our big day in Barcelona.
We managed to squeeze in a sneaky photo stop at the literally awesome Sagrada Familia. Most students were blown away, but some were more attracted to the Urban Wear shop we happened to be stood near! Ah, to be a teenager again!
Park Güell was beautiful. Beautiful colours and architecture everywhere with plenty of instagrammable spots to please all taste. And the view across Barcelona was immense.
Off to the holy grail of Catalonian football, Camp Nou, particularly appreciated by JJ and not at all by the Real Madrid loving Hugo who really suffered.
Then back to the hotel for swimming time, a supermarket visit and dinner.
Fabulously entertaining quiz by Mr Colman rounded off an amazing day.
Again, the students did us proud and the guides in Park Güell commented on how well-behaved they were compared to their usual student groups.
Lots more Spanish spoken today. The students are becoming more confident, and we are all so proud of them for giving it a go.
Star of the day and best dressed man goes to birthday boy, Sarang.
Considering we had a 1.30am start, the students were surprisingly chipper on the journey to the airport where all went smoothly. We took off in the 6am UK gloom, flew through the clouds to see dawn breaking and arrived ahead of time into the warmth and sunshine of Catalonia.
After a quick stop at our rather lovely hotel, we headed straight out to find some lunch. Walking up the long, straight Rambla Nova, we stopped at the very top to admire the stunning view over the Mediterranean.
After a short R & R break back at the hotel for students to have a siesta or a dip in the pool, we met up with the Spanish students which was a huge success and probably the highlight of the day. Some real friendships developed that evening... lots of Spanish was spoken and arrangements have been made for further meetings later this week.
We arrived back for dinner at 8pm, a buffet style arrangement with plenty of choice for everyone, before an early night after our very long day and ready for an early morning start.
The students were all amazing, and we were so impressed with their behaviour in spite of their tiredness. Stars of the day were Hugo for his amazing translation help, the girls who generously helped and supported a friend in need (I don’t want to forget anyone but you were amazing) and Jack who is practically fluent now).
