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Please look at this page regularly to see updates about the Year 6 children on their residential trip to Normandy in France.
Friday 17th June
Having docked at 6.45am this morning, we made our way through passport control at Portsmouth before making a welcome stop at McDonald's in Winchester for a bacon roll and hash browns. Thankfully the traffic was moving and we were welcomed home into the school playgrounds by the whole school and Y6 parents.
We have had a fantastic week made so enjoyable by our wonderful children and staff. Everywhere we went we received such flattering comments from passers-by, tourists and so on. One lady, who was a teacher in Switzerland commented that she had been watching our school all day as they went up Mont St Michel, into the abbey and down again. She said she was so impressed by the behaviour and conduct of the children and that they were a real credit to us. Looking into our study book, she saw we are a Church of England school and she commented, "That explains it all!"
This morning at passport control the Borderforce staff required us to disembark from the coaches and file into the building and wait for each child to approach one by one to be processed. Our whole group waited silently of course and she commented that they were the best school party she had seen - "Normally they make such a noise," she said.
It has been a memorable week and I hope that the children will take away some lasting memories of their time on the CSPA French Trip 2016. We are so proud of them. Thank you to all the staff who have made the trip possible, both office staff, teachers at school and those who participated in the trip itself. Lastly, thank you to the children for representing the school so well.
19.10: We are on our way to the ferry port! We have had a lovely meal and are looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow.
16.15: We have had a great day so far. The children loved the market and enjoyed spending the last of their pocket money on gifts and souvenirs. Both the farm and the airborne museum proved popular and the weather held out, and even delivered the sunshine we have all been hoping for. We are now on our way to the final visit to the British cemetery in Bayeux before going to the restaurant for dinner.
9.30 We have left Les Tourelles and are on our way to St Mere Eglise to the market. The children were excellent this morning, tidying their rooms and stripping their beds before breakfast.
Our visits today follow with the church, farm and airborne museum in St Mere Eglise and conclude with Bayeux Cemetery where we will place a wreath at the memorial in memory of all the soldiers we have learned about this week who gave their lives so that we can live in peace.
22.00 We have packed our cases this evening and enjoyed our final meal at Les Tourelles. Today we celebrated Brodie's birthday from cards and gifts before breakfast to birthday cake, candles and rounds of "Happy Birthday" in French and English! Gathered in the square we were entertained by several volunteers who performed a variety of pieces including songs, a poem, cheer-leading, comed and, beat-boxing. We finished by learning and rehearsing a song to sing on our departure tomorrow. Another wonderful day - the children have been a great pleasure to be with and so willing to be exemplary role models for each other. Tomorrow, we load the coaches and leave Les Tourelles for a full day of visits leading up to boarding the night ferry in the evening.
15.45: Our visit to Mont St Michel was fantastic in the sunshine. We received compliments galore as amazed tourists observed our huge party of children making their way through the busy narrow streets within this historic site. We made our silent entrance into the service being held in the abbey and we were able to sit for a few minutes in the pews to listen to the monks singing verses in Latin. Our descent through the halls and staircases began and we were glad to have the red caps and hooded sweatshirts to keep all of children easily identifiable.
We made our way to the nearby biscuit factory for children to buy some souvenirs and taking advantage of the fantastic view, they began their drawings of Mont St Michel. Following a clap of thunder, the rain began to fall and we made a swift retreat to the coaches. We are now on our way back to Les Tourelles where we hope to complete the drawings before packing our cases ready for our departure tomorrow.
8.15: We had a really settled night and everyone slept well. We have had an early breakfast, making a good start for our longish journey to Mont St Michel. We will be making our way to the abbey at the top, hopefully making a very brief visit to experience the service being conducted by the monks. This afternoon, we visit the biscuit factory and if weather permits we will sit out to sketch and paint the view of Mont St Michel.
21.30: Tonight after dinner, we walked along the beach and had our second night's activity to design and build a sand sculpture. The children thoroughly enjoyed their time on the beach and are now settling to bed before we embark on another busy day with an early start!
16.50: Despite the rain in Honfleur, we still managed to have a lovely afternoon with a visit to St Catherine's church - the largest timbered church in France built in 1450. Taking shelter in the market square children sketched the wonderful old buildings whilst groups ventured to buy their ice creams using their French to select their favourite flavours. I am pleased to say that our spirits are not dampened by the weather and we hope that the sun might emerge later for our evening activities.
11.20: A blustery Arromanches greeted us on our arrival at the 360 cinema this morning. We gathered the children on the cliff top where we had an excellent view of the Mulberry Harbour and they learned more about its purpose following D-Day and how it came to be there. Inside the cinema, we watched a short film which through original footage and photos we learned about the build up to D-Dayr and the events that followed.
We are now back on the coach for one of our longer journeys to the harbou town of Honfleur. We hope the rain holds off so that we can do some sketching and watercolour painting this afternoon!
8.10: All slept really well last night and have had a good breakfast. We are in Arromanches this morning for the 360 cinema and then a walk to St Peter's church. This afternoon we travel to Honfleur. The children are being fantastic and we are really proud of them!
1.45: This afternoon we enjoyed a superb 3-course meal at the lovely French restaurant in Bayeux before venturing to see the Bayeux Tapestry where the children heard the story of the Battle of Hastings through handsets. Despite a little rain the children met up with their penpals on the green outside the cathedral in beautiful surroundings. Many managed to exchange cards and gifts and use their French to converse with each other. Within the cathedral we took shelter from the misty rain and tried out some sketching of the spectacular sculptures and architechture.
Having installed ourselves at Les Tourelles, the staff had prepared a wonderful evening meal - again 3 courses! We managed a lovely evening walk along the seafront pavements to a German gun battery to finish our day. Everyone is really tired but in great spirits. We have had several people stop us today to comment on the wonderful behaviour of our children, wondering where they come from. Well done everyone! Another busy day tomorrow.
10am: We had a quiet crossing on the ferry- the children settled really well! We received our first couple of compliments about the children's behaviour before we disembarked. This morning, we were woken at 4.45am ready to dock at Ouistreham at 5.45am. We have visited the memorials marking the landing sites of the horsa gliders at Pegasus Bridge and the Cafe Gondree where children were ethralled to meet Madame Gondree. At Pegasus Museum we learned a little more about the events of D-Day before seeing the actual bridge now preserved there and a replica of a horsa gilder. We are now on our way to Bayeux for lunch at the Le Petit Normand restaurant! The weather is overcast but still mild.
21.15 We had a good journey down the motorway and have arrived at Portsmouth and checked in. Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to boarding the ferry. The next update will now be in the morning on our arrival in France. Thank you to everyone for arriving in good time this evening!