FIELD DAY: Year 10 ENGLISH TRIP TO HAMPSTEAD

Elijah N, Year 10 writes...

Year 10’s English Field Day was a trip like no other.

After travelling to Hampstead via tube, we had a serene, engaging literary tour around this historic, suburban area. From Keats to Orwell and Blake, Hampstead has a predominant past of literature, which (despite me living there!) I only realised on the day. So - what made this trip so special?

I think one very interesting part of Hampstead was the scenery: we started off our tour by walking into a rather gothic cemetery, full of striking Victorian-like images. From thorned roses to graves overgrown by nature, it truly was straight out of a gothic novel.

Throughout the tour, we had opportunities to write vivid descriptions of what we saw, felt, heard, and touched… Hampstead, although rather small, is surely an aesthetic, natural place: walking around the Heath and Golders Hill on a clear summer’s day was a tranquil, delightful experience.

Another highlight of the trip was seeing the house of English poet, John Keats. Personally, Romantic poetry and prose is definitely my favourite genre, so seeing Keats’ secluded, yet peaceful and ambient, house felt like reading a Romantic poem from the 1800s.

Our day out ended sitting by Hampstead Heath, truly at peace with our surroundings (in contrast to busy London!) and writing a poem about how we felt in that special moment in time. Sitting by the lake, I realised the beauty of our natural world and how we take such scenery for granted, especially when we live right next to it.

Being a GCSE pupil, I felt I took away some striking, powerful descriptions of nature for my English Language descriptive writing paper, and I hope this was likewise with others.

Looking back on this trip, I acknowledge the importance of literature and its omnipresence in an everyday environment, such as unassuming Hampstead. I feel that, if you stepped away from your screen, television, or even your home, you will find nature’s beauty is actually everywhere.

Lukas O’D, Year 8 writes...

4.10pm: After being allowed out of school on Thursday afternoon, myself and my fellow pupils were granted a couple of hours to get ready for the big event. We spent this time doing last minute packing, eating dinner and showering.

6.30pm: Upon arrival, we were welcomed by Ms Nash. She guided us over the basic instructions of the night and escorted us to drop our bags off. Then we handed in our phones for an authentic start to the night.

7pm: Once everyone had arrived, it was up to the music room where we had an inspiring talk about homelessness. A member from ‘Every Youth’ shared with us what it’s like to be a homeless person at such a young age and how, often, it isn’t even their fault.

Mr Hayes also read us some stories about people who had recieved help from the charity. These stories included those people being pressured into leaving their homes or by being abandoned by a life partner, with some left with a newborn baby.

7.40pm: It was a race. We were given 25 minutes to set up camp on the terrace, get changed and get back down to the music room to watch a movie.

8.05pm: With everybody in the music room, ready and raring to go, the movie - A Street Cat Named Bob - began. This film was about a ma trying to recover from drugs and live a proper life. However, he was not alone on this journey for he met a cat, a cat named Bob!

10.40pm: With the movie over, it was time to get ready for bed.

11pm: With everyone ready for bed, it was time to go to sleep. Or so we thought....

11pm-2am: *I will be describing this next part from my perspective*.

Phew, it was hot! Sticky in our sleeping bags, constantly being woken up and high levels of pollen really didn’t make this night easy.

I think it’s safe to say that the next morning, everyone was shattered.

2am-5am: Sleep! Finally!

5am: It was the packing up of our sleeping bags, in which Iggy B was the hero for many. Then, everyone sat down and watched a movie.

Overall l think it’s safe to say that this wasn’t an easy experience. However, one thing I’ve learned from this is how hard it is being homeless. We only experienced a very small part of it and that almost completely depleted us.

Felipe E, Year 8 writes...

On Friday 19th June, Years 7 and 8 were given the opportunity to go to Thorpe Park, as a reward after a week of exams.

Everyone who arrived in the Drama Studio on time and there wasn’t much traffic until we reached the M25 (typical!). We