Year 8 visit to Baddesley Clinton 

In June the history department took all the Year 8 girls to a Tudor Living History day at Baddesley Clinton. This is a moated medieval house now run by the National Trust, which in Elizabethan times was the home of a Catholic family who hid priests in secret hiding places in the house. The girls took part in activities ranging from a dancing lesson to a fairly terrifying encounter with a soldier recruiting men to fight the Spanish Armada.

Year 7 history visit to Bosworth

The annual Year 7 history trip to Bosworth in June gave girls the chance to see the site of the battle which ended the Wars of the Roses in 1485.  We went on a conducted walk round the site and saw the spot where King Richard III was killed.  The girls also took part in a hands-on examination of various artefacts from the past and tried to guess, often with great success, what each object was. Probably the most memorable part of the day was the very entertaining talk by a medieval “soldier”, who did not spare any details of the gory nature of warfare.

The trip provided an enjoyable end to a year’s work on medieval history and an introduction to Year 8 study of the Tudors. The girls have since written excellent eye witness accounts of the battle from different perspectives.

Year 10 visit to the First World War battlefields

Ten years ago, the history department took the first group from Kingsley to Ypres, the scene of much grim fighting in 1914-18. Since then, as far as possible, it has been an annual event, but this year it was extended to include the English department and so Mrs Hamilton, Head of English, accompanied us on our trip in July.

The girls visited cemeteries, museums and memorials commemorating the millions who died in the Great War. Perhaps the most impact was provided by a visit to Sanctuary Wood, where trenches have been left more or less untouched. This year they were  authentically muddy!

On the last day, we drove into France and went to Vimy Ridge. Some of the girls went on a tour of the underground tunnels, led by a young Canadian female soldier. The huge site is owned by Canada and commemorates the successful attack on the Ridge by the Canadians in 1917.

This memorable trip, a vital component of the girls’ history GCSE coursework, has also greatly enriched their study of First World War literature. 

S Waterson