Dear Parents/ Carers

Thank you for sending in your initial expression of interest regarding the year 10 trip to Lille in March 2024. In this website you can find all the relevant information regarding the visit. There are still a few spaces left on the trip for students who did not send in their initial consent forms, and these will be allocated on a first come first serve basis up to Friday 8th December. 

The date of the trip is Friday 1st March to Sunday 3rd March 2024. Students will need to arrive to school at 04.30 on Friday morning, and will arrive back at roughly 21:00 on Sunday night. These timings will be confirmed at the information evening. 

The total cost for the trip is £250 per student which can be paid through voluntary payments via the squid account. This includes transport, accommodation, activities and breakfast, lunch and dinner. Students may bring spending money with them as there will be opportunities for shopping or visiting French cafes at their own expense. The currency in Lille is Euros, which can be obtained at the Sainsbury's on the Ransome Estate or any Bureau de Change. Students will also be able to use apple pay, bank cards or apps such as Revolut at most major shopping outlets.  

As this is an overseas trip students will require a passport to travel. The easiest method of travel is on a British Passport which can be obtained through the government website. However, we will be organising a collective passport for British students who do not have a passport. For those students travelling on an international passport, we will also require proof of their leave to remain in the UK. Due to the legal requirements of the British, French and Belgian governments it is essential that all forms on the passport page are completed by Friday 8 December 2023. This is a hard deadline and cannot be extended. 

The aim of the visit is to extend students' cultural experiences. They will complete a range of activities provided by the humanities department, including a trip to a chocolate factory, visiting the sites of the First World War, and immersion into French culture in Lille City Centre. A full itinerary can be found here, which will be updated as tour guides and activities are confirmed.  

We will be staying at the HI Hostel Lille for the duration of the trip. I have included further information regarding the hostel, including contact details on the website. There is a google form for students to complete showing who they would like to share a dorm with. While we will endeavour to place friends together, we will take into account our own professional judgement regarding behaviour issues in addition to the requirements of the hostel. We will not cater to mixed gender dormitories. 

The safety of students on this visit is our number one priority. As teachers we want to feel confident that students are representing the school to a high standard and will follow our instructions without any issues arising. Due to this, we reserve the right to remove anyone from the trip who is not meeting the behaviour expectations within school. Any students who are involved in a serious incident will be automatically removed from the trip, and students who demonstrate persistent low level poor behaviour will also be removed. 

We will be holding an open evening on Thursday 1st February at 17:00 to discuss the full itinerary and to answer any questions regarding the trip, however please do not hesitate to contact either myself or any member of the humanities team if you have any questions before then. 

Below is a checklist to ensure that all sections have been completed.

1. Passport forms and uploads - by Friday 8 December 2023

2. The consent and contact details form - by Friday 8 December 2023

3. Accommodation form - by Friday 26 January 2024

Kind Regards

Catherine Grover