With a long drive to reach our destination, our learners had a well-deserved nap, listened to their favourite music and chatted amongst themselves. They showed a lot of patience and great listening skills.

Once the minibus arrived in the beautiful birth town of William Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon, our learners were taken aback by the sights, the positive buzz of the town, the old buildings, the dainty shops and the narrow streets.

Thankfully, the Great British weather was on our side, so our learners were able to appreciate the beautiful streets and the boats on the river (named after Shakespearean characters).

 

The learners admired the architecture of Stratford-Upon-Avon, noted for its half-timber work, where buildings have an exposed wooden framework, with the rest typically filled with brick, plaster or "wattle-and-daub". Half-timbered houses often have an overhanging upper storey, which added vital space but was also a structural device. With more than 800 years of history to take in, it was a beautiful place to spend our time.

To begin with we stopped at Shakespeare’s New Place, where we took in the sensory stimuli all around us, exploring the glorious gardens (the Great Garden and the Knot Garden), and ran around amongst the colourful dance of the flowers and the hugging shade of the Mulberry tree.

We noticed the themed statues of the Shakespearean plays, alongside two of the ones we are currently studying in English: The Tempest and Macbeth. Our learners listened attentively and have soaked up the information about Shakespeare in the presentation given by our guide.

Once we arrived at the Schoolroom, our students were immersed into the Tudor era and a Tudor Master gave them a taste of the lesson style in those days, telling them to sit straight, using Latin words and firing Maths questions at them to which some of our learners impressed, quickly finding the answer.

After this interesting Tudor lesson, we went next door and experienced writing Latin words using ink and quill pen, trying some Tudor games and some Tudor clothes, all greatly enjoyed. 

After an outdoor lunch, we continued our walk towards the Butterfly farm, where we were once again immersed in sensory stimuli. Our learners enjoyed the colourful butterflies flying and resting around us, the lazy lizards and crocodiles that were barely noticed camouflaged amongst the plants. There were orange fish in the ponds and even the toilets were a wonder, with sensory projectors revealing some habits of insects. Some of our learners correctly associated the habitat to that from Malaysia, Thailand and Bali.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this a memorable and impressive trip, and congratulations to the students who dedicated themselves to an educational day.