History Year 9 Battlefields Visit
The Accommodation
We are staying at Le Chateau du Broutel in the Picardy region of Northern France. We have used the Chateau for our visits for the last 8 years. The hotel is purposely run for school groups and the hotel staff run activities for our students in the evenings.
Student rooms are single gender and sleep between 4 and 8 students. Our staff will be roomed nearby and visit leaders will be on hand 24 hours a day to support students.
The Travel
We will be travelling by coach during the visit. We use Sharpes of Nottingham, with whom we have built up an excellent working relationship. Their drivers are exceptionally professional and knowledgeable about the sites we are visiting.
Our crossing to France will be via Ferry. We will be travelling with P&O.
The Itinerary
We will confirm the full visit itinerary closer to the visit, however our skeleton itinerary and planned excursions are set out below:
Monday 23rd October 2023
Depart Kimberley School @ 4am
Crossing to France via Ferry
Arrive at the hotel: settle in, evening meal, evening activities
Tuesday 24th October 2023
Lochnagar Crater (on the Somme) and associated cemetery
Newfoundland Memorial Park (preserved battlefield)
Thiepval Memorial to the Missing
Afternoon activity: Bowling in Amiens
Wednesday 25th October 2023
Morning activity: Market and shopping in Arras
Ring of Remembrance (global memorial of WWI)
Wellington Tunnels (underground army HQ)
Thursday 26th October 2023
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery and medical museum
Poperinge (town visit and ‘shot at dawn’ cells)
Sanctuary Wood (interactive preserved trenches and trench warfare museum)
Tyne Cot Cemetery (Largest war cemetery in the world)
Afternoon activity: Free time in Ypres, including choice of evening meal in the city
Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate
Friday 27th October 2023
Etaples Military Cemetery (including Remembrance ceremony)
Afternoon activity: Hypermarket visit
Crossing to UK via Ferry
Arrive Kimberley School @ 9:30pm
The Team
We ensure a staff to student ratio of 1:10. We have a core team of 5 Kimberley School staff, which extends up to 8 if we take a larger number of students.
Mr O Tuck (Visit Leader, History department)
Miss M Hall (Deputy Visit Leader, History department)
Mrs D Wheatley (Safeguarding & First Aid leader, Student Support)
Miss H Levett (Safeguarding & First Aid leader, Student Support)
Miss A Raynor (History department)
Further Information
If you would like more information about the visit, don’t hesitate to contact Mr Tuck or email battlefields@kimberleyschool.co.uk
F.A.Qs
How experienced are the staff on the visit?
Our core staff are highly experienced in planning and leading off-site visits; this is the 9th Battlefields Visit we have run as a team. Our visit leaders have a wealth of experience with overseas residential trips and Duke of Edinburgh expeditions. We ensure that at least 50% of our visit team is made up of members of the school’s pastoral team. We are accompanied by 5 first-aid trained staff and 2 safeguarding officers.
Will students get ‘downtime’?
Yes. We have planned activities in the evenings to allow students time to socialize and relax. In the hotel, this includes a campfire and time around the hotel grounds. We also ensure students have time in their rooms in the evenings. On excursions, we have also planned some ‘non-historical’ activities, such as bowling. There will also be time for students to explore local cities and go shopping, if they wish to do so.
Will students be remotely supervised at any time?
Remote supervision is where students are permitted to explore with friends without a member of staff directly supervising.
There are three instances where we have planned remote supervision:
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Day 3: Students will be allowed some free time in the city of Arras, where there are cafes and shopping opportunities.
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Day 4: Students will be allowed some free time in the city of Ypres, where they will be able to explore the small city centre and we will provide students with money to purchase their own evening meal.
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Day 5: Students will be given some free time in a hypermarket.
During each of these instances, we will ensure there is a meeting place where there is always a member of staff nearby. Students will be expected to stay with groups of at least 4 students and will have the phone numbers of male and female visit leaders. We will also stipulate where students can and cannot go within the city centres.
What is the journey like?
We have a long-standing professional relationship with Sharpes of Nottingham, whose coaches are modern, safe and well-equipped. The journey to France is therefore made as comfortable as possible. There is a toilet on the coach, but we do ask students to use this only when they are desperate. We therefore stop regularly for comfort breaks. The crossing to France is by Ferry, and we will support anxious students with this. As with remote-supervision, we will ensure student understand where staff members can be found during the ferry crossing.
What is the food like?
Students will receive a packed lunch from the hotel (Tuesday – Friday) which includes: ham, cheese or salad baguette, a packet of crisps, a piece of fruit and a sweet treat. The evening meal at the hotel is a hot meal, changing each evening, but usually involves meat, fish and vegetarian options. The hotel caters well for specific dietary requirements and allergies. On Day 4, we allow students to purchase their own evening meal. We will guide students to a range of restaurants and outlets; the visit leader is on hand to translate for students to ensure dietary requirements are met.
Is there a visit meeting planned?
Yes. This has been planned for early October. During this meeting we will explain the logistical information, itinerary and risk assessments. We will also introduce the members of staff accompanying the visit, who will be available to answer questions. We will write to parents/carers nearer the time to arrange this.