To enhance the learning inside the classroom, we offer students a range of trips and visits throughout the year to support the learning undertaken in the classroom. From the classroom to the sports field, from the music room to trips further afield, we look to offer opportunities that spark passions and interests, broaden outlooks and enrich the lives of all our pupils.
Below are some examples of where students in Seniors have had the opportunity to visit in recent years.
At Easter 2024, sixty students from Year 9 to Lower Sixth travelled to La Plagna for a week of skiing in France.
During the Easter 2024 holidays, a groups of students and staff headed to the Houston Space Centre in Texas to see the Texas eclipse. The group travelled to the Baylor University campus is Waco, Texas, to witness the eclipse. The group were fortunate to see the sun’s corona forming a beautiful outline around the moon, demonstrating the famous ‘Diamond Ring’ effect.
In addition to the eclipse, students also got to visit Houston and attend the Space Centre University Programme, where they worked in small teams to complete projects related to the space programme. An example project the group completed was building a rocket – the teams used their knowledge of maths and physics to construct a prototype that had to launch high into the sky and then deploy a parachute so that it could land safely. The highlight of the week for many was the graduation ceremony where #TeamBirkenhead got to take a large number of medals and prizes and got to meet astronaut, Hans Shelgal.
In February half-term 2024, a group of A Level and GCSE students studying Spanish or Art went on a trip to Madrid, providing opportunities to learn more about Spanish history and culture.
In October 2023 a group of Year 8 students travelled to London for a cultural trip to stay on HMS Belfast and enjoy guided tours and drama workshops at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, a trip to the London Dungeons and a visit to the Houses of Parliament.
In June 2023 a group of Year 10 students went on a First World War Battlefields trip which took place over four action-packed days filled with history, emotion and even a little chocolate. They returned with wonderful memories and lots of questions for their history teachers about what they’d seen.
Over February half-term 2023, the Geography department organised a field trip to Iceland for 77 students in Years 10 to Sixth Form and 8 members of the teaching and support staff. The trip was a resounding success and students were able to apply their theoretical knowledge of geography to real-life experiences and gain a deeper understanding of the world around them.
In October 2022, 48 students embarked on an unforgettable trip to the European Space Centre. They visited a chocolate factory, Tyne Cot, the Paschendale Museum, Boullion Castle and of course, the European Space Centre where they practiced moonwalking, zero gravity, working in mission control, rocket design, pressure experiments to name but a few.
