On July the 10th 123 Year 8 students travelled all
the way to France in just one day. It all started at 6:20am in the morning as
everyone started to appear and gather outside Chailey School. Everyone was
dressed in their own clothes and ready for the long day ahead, including 16
teachers. The pupils and teachers all gathered in the main hall to have a
briefing to find out which coach they were on and which group they were in. At
around 7:00am everyone was on the coaches, ready to set off to the first stop,
Dover.
About four hours later, the coach was parked up and Year 8
were taking over the ferry! It was a great ferry and had fantastic gift shops and
cafes which everyone enjoyed, especially the teachers! You could also go up
onto top deck and have a look at the lovely country to come. After a two hour
journey to Calais, Year 8 went back in their coaches and arrived in Boulogne
half an hour later.
As soon as Year 8 arrived, you could tell it was going to be
hot. The highest was about 32 degrees but that just made it better! Firstly,
the groups went off to the old town in which there was a cathedral and a
great marketplace to buy lots of souvenirs, including a sweet shop! Lots of
pupils enjoyed the freedom to go off by themselves and look around. It was also
nice for others to spend time with their friends. After the old town, Year 8
walked to the market square in which they could also go off to different shops
and buy gifts. This was basically a modern version of the old town. When
that had finished everyone went back onto the coaches and travelled to the
hypermarket!
The hypermarket was MASSIVE. You could buy things such as
toys, food, sweets, drinks and even stationery! Year 8 had about half an hour
in the market and bought their dinner and sweets! This was a highlight for Year
8 as they were allowed to walk around this enormous market seeing new French
delicacies that they had never seen before. About 45 minutes later, Year 8
boarded the coach and had their dinner on the way back to the ferry. Year 8
made it onto the ferry half an hour later and set sail back to Dover. By this
time it was around 8:00pm so you would think that everyone would be tired, but
oh no. Year 8 wanted their final chance to be active on the ferry and have a
good time with their friends. Finally at 9:30pm the ferry was parked up and
Year 8 were in their coaches ready to travel to Chailey. The journey on the way
home was a lot shorter and at 11:40pm Year 8 had arrived home, running into
their parent’s car and falling asleep.
It was a fantastic day and all of the students and teachers
enjoyed it as a school trip to remember! But it was all down to the teachers
who had a lot of pressure, but kept cool. The trip couldn’t have happened
without them, so everyone is very grateful. Thank you for such an amazing
day!!!
