Memories, friendships & shared experiences

I have always believed that school trips should be at the heart of a good education. Education is about memories and friendships and shared experiences. During my 22 years at Thomas Tallis I've had the privilege to organise a large number of trips, probably about 50 odd to UCL and the Royal Observatory, Greenwich during my time teaching A-level chemistry and GCSE Astronomy.

However, my personal favourite was a residential trip that I ran every year for sixth form students to the Margaret Macmillan centre in Wrotham, Kent. Located in the North Kent Downs we always used to take all of Year 13 in Feb/March to consolidate their A-level science subjects. The students worked so hard over 3 days, typically 12 hour shifts, but we had loads of fun too!

There would often be snow on the fields and bluebells in the woods. One year we built igloos and, most years, the students enjoyed the climbing walls as a break from their science education. Every year we had loads of fun in the evenings! The staff who visited Wrotham over the years included Mr Wardell, Mr Lederer, Ms Karim, Ms Stenhouse, Ms Edmond and many many more. In the evenings we would light a campfire and pass the guitar, or have a science quiz or get out the school telescope. Striking the celestial jackpot would mean finding Jupiter and its moons or just about making out the polar icecaps on Mars. Making Year 13 astrophysics real!

Sing-songs would always include the Beatles (sorry kids but you came away to be properly educated)! It was like stepping back in time, built in the 1950's with no wi-fi reception (so no mobile phone time - shock horror!) we all had to go back to basics. The food was old-fashioned crumble with lots of custard and no fried chicken in site. In many ways, it always reminded me of visiting Macca's childhood home in Liverpool: basic, simple, family values. We all had to talk to each other and make up our own entertainment.

One deputy head was very dubious about the educational value of the trip. However, when I was short-staffed I invited him and he was quickly converted. He saw how hard the students worked and he let himself enjoy the magic atmosphere of the trip, even letting his hair down to pick up the guitar. The moment he bumped into a student revising at 5 o'clock in the kitchen convinced him!

One thing about such trips is you learn that the students never sleep. A teenager's clock keeps strange time! I must admit, it used to take me a week to recover. On the way home there would be some very sleepy students on the bus.

It was also a chance to build genuine friendships with staff and see the students thrive outside a formal school atmosphere. I hope that all of the students remember the trips fondly and look back at all the fun we had!

-- Andy Smythe