Tired of London?

Tired of London?

Day 1 - Monday 27 June

We departed Latymer at 8:45 and made our way to Aldgate East for a tour of street art in London. It was truly mind blowing as our knowledgeable guide showed us some amazing murals in hidden spots throughout. We learned all about the culture of street art and even had a go at trying it for ourselves in a special studio. It was hungry work and so we all wolfed down a shawarma in Spitalfields Market; some of the students were even spotted with a mountain of waffles and ice cream as they enjoyed some free time exploring the market. 

Day 2 - Tuesday 28 June

This morning we bustled onto the tube at 08:45 am sharp with students armed with an array of Japanese puzzles for thejourney. We were heading to the Jewish Museum in Camden. It proved to be a morning full of reflection as we were given the opportunity to consider artefacts from the Holocaust amongst other activities during a thought provoking workshop. 

Afterwards we went to Pret to buy ingredients for a picnic which we ate by the canal watching Wimbledon on a big screen at Coals Drop Yard. As the sun was beating down we collectively felt it would be rude if we didn’t cleanse our palette with a raspberry ripple ice cream cone too. Cones in hand we then walked down the canal footpath to an Escape Room. The two teams both managed to make it out of the escape room using buckets of teamwork, guile and plenty of calmness under pressure. 

We even had time to see Harry Potter’s platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross Station before heading back exhausted after another lovely day out in London. 

Day 3 - Wednesday 29 June

Today was Sports Day and the team were up bright an early for an 8:30am start at the local Ravenswall Climbing Centre. Even Mrs Alishaw and Mr Devenport donned their climbing boots as traverses were crimped and routes were scrambled. With the pupils’ athleticism putting Mr Devenport to shame a fun time was had by all as they stepped out into the pouring rain in search of paddle boards at the Brentford Docks. 

The rain failed to ruin the spirits as we paddle boarded down through the Brentford canal past barge boats and innumerable Moor Hens. Some of our team even went swimming in the canals as we all intrepidly ventured through the Hounslow cut.

A hungry and parched group made their way to a local cafe to purchase sandwiches, drinks and a much needed rest on a local green before boarding a bus for hot yoga. Invariably the yoga was hot, very hot in fact as we stretched our way to 4 o'clock and home time with the excitement of a Thursday lie in just the ticket after an exhausting and productive sports day.

Day 4

The day kicked off with a Maths brunch - croissants and pain au chocolats complimented magic squares, the Simpsons and the shape of the universe. We worked our way through riddles and logic puzzles and even explored some of the million dollar millennium maths puzzles. This was capped off with a reading from H.G. Wells’s War of the Worlds in preparation for Jeff Wayne’s War of the World’s Immersive Experience. 

We dined at a martian themed restaurant and had a variety of particularly oozy pizzas. The production itself was a masterpiece which played with our perceptions of reality.  Alien attacks as seen through virtual reality headsets were coupled with digital hot air balloon rides as characters from the novel interacted with our students. It was both terrifying and exhilarating.

Day 5 - Friday 1 July

Today was all about ancient and modern London (and a few bits in between). Our final foray into London took us to Mansion House where we took a quick detour to see St Paul’s Cathedral and to conclude a dastardly riddle which we had been working on in the tube (ask them about it! It was called ‘Cheryl’s Birthday’).

The main purpose however, was to visit the Museum of London and to learn about the Roman’s impact on the genesis of Londinium. Those who finished early were able to see the Harry Kane exhibition. A man, who, ironically, put in a devastating Roman display in the Euros quarter final last year.

After that we went to the Mithraeum. An extraordinarily enigmatic place in the basement of London. It was a temple to the Roman God Mithras. The figurehead of a Roman cult. Much of the foundations of the temple were still intact and an immersive experience brought it to life.

A picnic lunch followed at the ancient St Dunstans East Church before we finished an epic week by travelling to the Sky Garden on floor 36 of the walkie talkie building. It was a fitting end to what has been an exhausting, highly educational and fun week.