Celebrating our Learners

Review of training camp by Yuma Kaneko Year 11

The Thanyapura swim camp was a great experience for everyone in the team. We did all sorts of things from playing frisbee, going to the beach, exploring Phuket and of course, training. All these activities brought us closer as a team together and we were thrilled to spend so much time together. Our normal day started with us eating breakfast and getting ready for our morning session. After training, we often went to the recovery area which included an ice bath, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room. When we didn't have training we spent time with everyone. We ate buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner which was delicious and especially after training, we were stuffing ourselves with food. Some other aspects were also thrown into the training sessions to make them more fun like when we all had to swim the 200 fly after training which most swimmers were scared of, but having everyone cheering for you when you were swimming made the event much easier and brought us closer as a team. All together I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the swim camp and I can also speak for all the other swimmers saying that they loved it as well.

Review of Drama trip by Yasmine Berrada Year 11

I had such a blast on the London trip! My friends and I were impressed by how well the teachers on the trip, Ms Kim and Mr Russell, handled all of us and the activities we were meant to do. They made the experience so much fun and were very kind to us with who we wanted to partner with throughout, as well as put so much trust in us! As a drama student and my partner being an art student, it was so refreshing to have such a variety of activities to try out like taking part in workshops. Two of our favourite workshops were definitely the dance workshop and acting workshop as it gave us first-hand experience on how routines are choreographed in musicals as well as expressing big emotions whilst on stage. What made the trip so memorable was getting the opportunity to watch shows everyday! They were made up of different genres so every show was unique in its own way. Some of them were so unique that a few of us fell asleep mid-performance! Ms Kim was incredibly organised with our food catering and making sure that everyone had a delicious meal everyday. In addition, some of my friends had the lucky coincidence of meeting an actor from Harry Potter at the Shakespeare Globe! We were given the freedom to wander around Covent Garden to watch some street magicians perform, have some delicious crepes, and go shopping at the markets. Honestly, missing out on this trip next year will be a great loss because it was the most fun my friends and I have ever had in our lives!

Review of Drama trip by Orla Stark Year 10 and Alice Adeney Year 10

We watched 5 different shows; & Juliet, Much Ado about Nothing, Blues for an Alabama Sky, The Woman in Black and The Lion King. All 5 of these plays were absolutely phenomenal and we really recommend watching them if you ever have the chance.

As the shows were in the evening, we had lots of time to spend during the day doing fun activities and workshops. Stage combat was the first workshop we did. In this workshop, we were taught how to realistically show a push as well as a slap across the face (which many enjoyed practising). Dance was the second workshop we did which was led by some of the cast from the show we watched. During the workshop we learnt one of the big ending dance numbers from & Juliet. Our red faces and lack of energy at the end helped us realise just how much effort and energy performers have to put in to create a flawless show.

Another great opportunity we had was to stand on the actual stage of the Fortune theatre where the Woman In Black is performed. In groups, we demonstrated different reactions in different situations, some of us even got to perform parts of the script from The Woman in Black. At the end of this little workshop, the person who was teaching us decided to play a prank on us. About 4 of us lined up in front of a door and had to knock it, but to our surprise it would knock and open back at us.

We were also lucky enough to have a tour of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and then take part in a Shakespearian acting workshop., We used an extract from a show we watched at the theatre (Much Ado about Nothing) and we were taught how to build up that moment using our voice and gestures.

Obviously workshops don’t take the entire day, so we managed to do some touristy stuff as well. Things like walking around the Covent Garden, walking up to Buckingham Palace, seeing Big Ben and Downing Street and exploring the streets of London were all part of it. Not to forget our favourite thing to do, stop and buy rubbish from Boots and Tescos!

On the last day, we went to the Harry Potter Warner Brothers studio tour. We think we can speak for the majority of us, it was one of the best days! We took the bus for the first time since the day we got there (yes, we quite literally walked everywhere) and it was just a joyous experience. There were a lot of exhibitions and we got to see all of the behind the scenes of the costumes and sets and even life size versions of how tall each character would be, and I must say, they were very different from what I thought they’d be. Some of us even tried the butterbeer; it was delicious!! At the end of the time there, we went to the Warner brothers studio shop where they sold actual wands (unfortunately they did not work).

My (Orla’s) personal favourite was the dance workshop. It gives you such an energy boost and just feels so great once you are able to do it. Another thing I loved was the freedom we were given. Yes, we were in the centre of London, so by freedom I do not mean go wherever we want, but we didn’t have to be with the whole group 24/7, and got some time to explore different areas.

My (Alice’s) personal favourite was either the dance workshop or the work we did within the fortune theatre. I’m a bit of a Woman in Black enthusiast, since I saw it before coming on the trip and it’s one of my favourite shows, so being able to go on the actual stage was super exciting. I also really enjoyed the dance workshop because at the end it really felt like I learnt and accomplished something (I can actually still remember it to this day!).

Overall we highly recommend it to anyone curious about going next year and a big thank you to everyone who was involved in planning it!