What an experience we had in the Alps! The weather was the worst 
experience in summer for many years, (we all learnt the French for rain), but the sun did make a brief appearance on day eight! 
Despite the awful weather we had an amazing time and all pupils and staff just got stuck in. We experienced many different places and activities, including a day in Chamonix where we bought food in the market and travelled on the Brevent ski lift. We saw a glacier on Mont Blanc and had a snow ball fight at the top of the mountain. We went on a boat ride around Lake Annecy and took a stroll around the beautiful cobbled streets. Mountain biking was one of the highlights of the trip. Mr Dailey, Tommy and Joe took one of the difficult muddy tracks down the mountain, whilst the rest of us followed on more sedately, taking on a pretty Alpine café on the way. We swam in outdoor swimming pools and in lakes in the rain. On Wednesday night we had a wonderful French meal in Morzine and 7 out of the 12 of us tried escargots! Our quiz night and games night went well and on the last afternoon we went down a slide run in Morzine. Our pupils helped to clean the chalet at the end of the week and were an asset to the school, speaking in French when they could, remembering manners and helping when they could. Many thanks to Departure Arts Short Breaks Programme for their generous contribution to this trip, affording our young people the extra cultural experiences. We are starting to plan a return trip in 2016!
Susie Jeffcott, Jimmy Dailey, Rosie Down and Graham Keates
