International Focus and School trips

We aim to provide a rich and diverse range of activities which expand the horizons of our students, motivate them and develop their talents.

All students are encouraged to participate in clubs, teams, workshops, visits, performances and other activities.

We also aim to support students to understand and deal with the global nature of our world. All students follow at least one foreign language (French, German or Spanish) to GCSE level. Our International Status means we are linked with schools in the Gambia and in Europe, with many regular exchange visits and trips taking place.

We run several Extended Learning Days throughout the year to add to the excitement of learning and stimulate deep learning provided through extended projects. These dovetail with our curriculum to ensure coherent and powerful learning experiences.

There is an extensive range of trips to all parts of the globe. A team building trip to the Peak District is run in the third week of term for all new Year 7 students; in Year 8 students have the opportunity to spend a week in France or Germany, while Year 9 includes a week long visit to the Isle of Wight. There are also many subject specific field trips for examination students at KS4 and A-level. As part of our Arts Status we run many international visits and music tours. Sixth Formers have the opportunity of a once in a lifetime trip to exotic destinations such as Borneo, China, Central America, Bakino Faso and Ecuador. We run a biennial Sports Tour to various destinations to ensure our sports teams get the opportunity to explore new places and cultures and play international opposition developing their skills against teams from around the world.

We also run annual exchanges with schools in Quickborn (Germany), Annecy (France) and Seville (Spain). These are amazing opportunities for students to experience everyday life and culture in our neighbouring countries as well as improve their linguistic skills. We also have a link with Anderson College in Singapore for Sixth Formers.

Lower and upper school ski trips add to a fully comprehensive offering for all students.

The values of meeting challenges and being an independent learner are partly delivered through the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. This is a core feature of activity in Years 10 to 13 with large numbers of students completing awards at all levels and adds significant value to the development of students‘ leadership skills as well as being great fun.

Trip list for 26-27

The following list is the current proposal for 2026-27, but is subject to change.