Scuba Diving - Day 4

Final dive at the lake. All students qualified, and are now PADI certified open water divers - a fantastic achievement!

Tomorrow we go test their skills at a wreck dive in Brighton.

Exmoor - Day 4

No rain today so this morning we headed out to try clay pigeon shooting in the fields above Northmoor House.

Now everyone is wearing brightly coloured aprons to learn how to prepare, cook and serve a barbecue.

Later we will solve a Murder Mystery at the house, performed by local actors. Perfect venue for a whodunit.

Preparing for the barbecue this evening- all hands on deck...

Our Last Supper at Northmoor

Best ever barbecue - prepared and cooked by Latymerians!

Morocco - Day 3

Downtime by the hotel pool..

UKSA - Day 3

Today we braved the cold weather and ventured back into keel boating and paddle boarding.

Camargue - Day 3

Our third day has been truly amazing. We have started the day with some horse riding at the Cabanes de Cacharel, a paradisiac place as you can see from the stunning photos. Unforgettable! And then, we spent the afternoon enjoying water sports on the lake - canoeing and windsurfing. A good long night of sleep

is needed, tomorrow will be a long day... Affaire à suivre!

Paris - Day 3

Wednesday started with another disappointing turn out to the 6:30am teacher-led-bootcamp (4 teachers, 0 pupils!) but a suspiciously prompt arrival to the meet point for the cooking course...

Once we’d convinced ourselves this probably wasn’t personal, the group split into two. One group strolled the streets of Paris between Notre Dame and the “2nd best bakery in Paris”. The pupils learnt about and tasted crisp baguettes, buttery croissants and fluffy macaroons, but it was clear they were all preoccupied thinking “how do we become a judge in these contests?!”. 

The other group was led through a three course meal of cold avocado and prawn lasagne, beef patty with potato gratin and tarte tatin. The enthusiasm was significantly less variable than the pupils’ culinary ability, nevertheless, the pupils had a great time, and unanimously agreed (don’t believe them when they say this didn’t happen!) they couldn’t wait to recreate the dishes for their loving families when they arrived home.

Nothing tops off a day of eating non-stop like some more eating, so it was back to the centre for some dinner and then a crepe making contest. We had everything from Jackson Pollock-esque dishes to decorated elephants which - we were subsequently convinced by some very passionate Year 9 girls - were an "artistic and culinary depiction of the struggles of the modern elephant against extinction": messy and inedible! 

Gredos - Day 6

We're back in London! All well.

We had an early start to get packed and drive to Madrid airport. Leaving Gredos at 7am. Coach loaded - back in the UK this afternoon after a fantastic trip.

Gredos - Day 5

This morning, we bid a fond farewell to the Gredos Centre, packing our bags and loading them aboard a shuttle to the Parador. Whilst they transited to our next venue, we trekked into the national park, arriving at the stunningly beautiful rock pools at Valdeascas in scorching sunshine. The river water originates from the snow melt coming off the surrounding peaks and was, therefore, challengingly cool. Nevertheless, an impressively large proportion of our group seized the opportunity to swim, with Dr Rogers leading the charge.

Once refreshed, we continued our walk through the pine forest, serenaded by the cattle bells that are a constant background soundtrack in this rural environment.  The route was well shaded by trees but we were still glad to arrive at the swimming pool adjacent to the Parador for a second dip.

The Parador de Gredos, originally a hunting lodge of King Juan I, is now a splendid hotel and we felt rather privileged at the chance to spend a night in the building where the Spanish constitution was signed. After a delicious dinner, we enjoyed some spirited competition in the games room, then headed for bed. Sadly, we have an early start tomorrow, to catch our flight back to the UK.

Mussels in Brussels - Day 3

We've had a fun packed day with a visit to Walibi Theme Park and Aqualibi Theme Park.

In the evening, the pupils treated us to a binbag fashion show with Thomas, Gabriel, René and Martha as the winners.

Yorkshire Dales - Day 3

Due to some heavy rain we had a few changes to our planned activities today. Group C (mountain activities) had to come back early as the weaselling section was flooded, so they did some extra training on the indoor climbing walls at the centre. 
Group A persevered through the orienteering part of the day, but had to opt for canoeing rather than raft building. It seemed they were disappointed not to have an opportunity to fall in, so most of them jumped in for a swim in the rain at the end! 
Group B evacuated the "dry" Gill scramble due to excessive rain - a good call by the instructor.  
In the evening all pupils raced round the underground labyrinth and then went to the park to enjoy the late evening sunshine!

Theatreland - Day 3

 The rules of 'Splat' are explained to an eager group of Latymer Prep Year 3 pupils by Theatreland students

The unique portrayal of Shakespeare's Macbeth at The Globe with the Groundlings adding to the atmosphere.

Globe actor Jacob Lloyd takes time out after the performance of Macbeth to discuss the ramifications of the play and takes viewpoints from our pupils 

Bushcraft - Day 3

We started the day with the students cooking a full English breakfast on the open fire which set us up well for our morning of foraging in the woods. We learnt about wild medicines, poisons and tasty leaves to munch on. After lunch we perfected our wood carving by making spatulas under the cover from the rain. This evening the pupils have been playing games and learning how to sharpen the knives. 

Eco Explorer - Day 3

We spent the day on intensive workshops at the amazing Eden Project. Students were captivated by the rainforest biome and project work on an Eco enterprise activity.

The Eden Project geologist was very impressed by our group presentations!

Paris - Day 2

As teachers, we know all too well that teenagers love three things: early mornings, traffic jams and snail farms. Not in the mood to disappoint, Tuesday dished these up in spades! 

This was no ordinary morning for the residents of the small market town of Brie Comte. Bang on 9:30a.m. they had the pleasure of 40 Latymerians eagerly charming and haggling their way to the best bargains in the Prep a Manger challenge. Once the 3 euro per pupil budget had been spent on sourcing lunch (or eclairs in some cases) it was back to the centre for some light competition and a feed. Whilst Blumenthal himself wouldn’t have dreamt some of the combinations of offer, it was Mr. Seymour’s carefully carved apple swan that stole the show.

Montmartre was next on the agenda, and the hill up to the Sacré Couer provided an opportunity for the pupils to redress the caloric balance for the day (having already spurned Ms. Monahan and Ms. Harvey's offer of a 6:30am boot camp). When finally at the top, memory cards were filled with selfies, and the creperies and ice cream stands in the area did a roaring trade!

The afternoon then took a very authentic turn. Although the Euros were ploughing on in the capital, the Parisians were adamant that playing host to a continental football tournament would not get in the way of their national sport: going on strike! Sadly for us the resulting road closures meant over two hours in nearly stationary traffic. It turns out the England football team weren’t the only ones crawling out of Paris feeling a little glum that afternoon. 

As evening rolled around the group experienced one of the more niche entertainment options available this activities week: a trip to Phillipe’s snail farm. Forty fascinated teenage faces acted as testament to the character of the man who talked for an hour and half about topics including the hermaphroditic reproduction of snails; a fascinating topic, coming soon to a dinner-time conversation near you!

Swim Trek - Day 3

The SwimTrekkers had another wonderful breakfast of oatmeal, granola, fresh fruit and yogurt before our excursions began. We set off on a short bus ride to reach our first lake. Our first swim was beautifully quiet and still. Both groups swam the 3km distance with far more prowess than yesterday and really did us proud! Lots of fun and games were had by all en route: squid synchronised swimming, a D.I.S.C.O. singalong with uniformed dance moves and some seriously good formation technique. Oh and did I mention that we swam 3km non-stop?! 

We then jumped out of the water for a quick cup of hot chocolate and a seemingly endless supply of biscuits! We walked for an hour before reaching a wonderfully secluded campsite and feasted on a Hungarian goulash (hot over cobbles!) - much to our delight! 

The final 1km swim saw us safely to the other side of the lake before our final trek which covered some outrageously beautiful scenery! We've all just tucked into some much needed paella ready for a relaxing evening!