Year 11 Berlin Trip 2023

We started off our trip by waking up in the early hours of the morning in order to get to Sleaford train station at 2.45am, where the coaches were waiting for us, and we set off on our journey to Berlin. Once we landed in Berlin, we drove about an hour to our hostel, during which we were able to take in the surroundings of Berlin. Once we were settled into our rooms we went down for dinner at the hostel, where we were given an option of many different meals, including pasta and chilli as well as a vegetarian option. After dinner we walked to the mall of Berlin, Potsdamer Platz. Here we were able to spend our euros and German students were given the opportunity to practise their German in a real-life context. After a busy first day of travelling, we were all happy to see our beds.

We got up early on Saturday morning and had a delicious breakfast at the hostel, consisting of a huge variety of different yogurts, meats and pastries, ready for our first full day in Berlin. We started off by splitting into classes and heading to the Resistance Museum. Here we learnt about the different resistance groups formed against Adolf Hitler and the different plots to try and kill him. After our trip to the museum, we visited the Victory Column, which showed bullet marks from when Berlin was invaded by Russia in 1945. We then took the U-Bahn to Checkpoint Charlie where we were able to eat lunch and order food for ourselves, another opportunity for German students to practise their German. We then finished our day visiting the Berlin Wall, giving us a chance to read about different historical moments in Berlin.

On the Sunday, we headed to a Russian memorial made from Hitler’s old buildings after WWII had finished. We then had the opportunity to see some of the famous art that can be found on the Berlin Wall.

Our next stop was the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Although it was an extremely interesting experience, it was very emotional to see what had happened to all those people during the Holocaust. The concentration camp visit gave us a huge insight to what had happened there and we believe this will help develop our knowledge ready for our GCSEs next summer. Furthermore, on the way back we stopped off at the Olympic Stadium, which was used as propaganda by Hitler in 1933, in order to make Germany look strong and powerful. We also saw Hitler's airport where supplies were brought into East Berlin for people suffering. We finished the day eating at a German restaurant, and afterwards getting to see the Berlin Festival of Lights which beautifully lit up the Brandenburg Gate. It was a long and tiring day, but we packed in a huge amount of history, helping History students to understand and develop their knowledge more in preparation for GCSEs.

We woke up on Monday to go for breakfast at 7.30am, preparing us for our last day in Berlin. We started by visiting the Holocaust Memorial, which consisted of many different shaped blocks and levels, to represent the number of different people killed during The Holocaust. After this we visited the Reichstag building and got to see many different views of Berlin. We finished our trip by visiting Potsdamer Platz once again to spend the rest of our Euros. We went back to the hostel to get our bags and completed the long journey back home. As much as I loved the trip, I was extremely happy to see my bed again.

We had an amazing time and give a massive thank you to all the staff who helped organise this trip and gave up their free time to come with us.

Ich habe meine Reise nach Deutschland geliebt, weil es sehr interessant war!

Ruby and Lois - Year 11

Year 12 Geography field trips to Skegness and Boston

The Year 12 Geographers have been busy this month collecting primary data on two local field trips.

On Tuesday 10 October, students visited Skegness where they carried out physical fieldwork. They surveyed the coastal defences and assessed their impact, surveyed the beach to examine factors that affect its shape, and completed a sand dune transect to see how the vegetation and microclimate change with distance from the sea.

On Thursday 12 October, students then visited Boston to undertake human fieldwork. The reason Boston was chosen was because it has seen a large influx of migration into the town, especially from Eastern Europe, which had diversified the town.  The rapid changes in the population have created a town where many migrant populations cluster in specific areas of the town. The students used this visit to explore a transect of the town looking at the environmental quality and housing in different parts of the town and mapping land use. They also undertook surveys in the town centre, ascertaining views and perceptions of Boston from local residents.

Students will be using this primary data to write up a fieldwork study where they will develop skills of data presentation and analysis, drawing conclusions to specific hypotheses.

Mrs S Livingstone
Subject Leader - Geography

Geographical Association Worldwise Quiz

On Thursday 5 October six of our Year 11 Geography students had the delight of attending the annual Geographical Worldwise Quiz at Lincoln Christ’s Hospital School.

With a prior mini test taken place during a lunchtime, two teams were assembled. Team A included Penny, Mia and Jasmine and team B comprised Molly, Ellie and Chiara. We worked together to revise and prepare. At the venue we met other teams in the main hall and could sense the competitive spirit. Promptly we were introduced to eight rounds of questions based on different types of geography.

Overall, we managed to place a team in fourth position and all enjoyed the event.

Jasmine, Year 11

Mayor’s Concert

Councillor Brand was blown away by the support and the talent of all the students who played at the recent Mayor's Charity concert which featured students from all year groups at both our school and Carre's Grammar School  . He couldn’t have wished for a more successful and fantastic evening. He was also very touched to see how many parents attendedl and was impressed with the community spirit shown. Councillor Brand has informed us that the evening raised £900 and will be used to support the charity Evergreen Sleaford. Further information can be found at Evergreen Sleaford

Thank you all again, from the music department, for the support of our students and for what proved to be a fabulous concert.

The Music Department