12 NOV 2024
Seaford's Battlefields Trip with Alison Thomas and Students
A trip to the battlefields to learn about World War 1.
Seaford commemorated Armistice Day with a two-minute silence at 11 am as Chapel bells rang, following a moving Remembrance Sunday service. To mark the occasion, we’re sharing videos from a recent history trip where Year 10 and 11 GCSE History students travelled to Belgium and France, visiting key World War I sites as part of their studies on “The Origins and Course of the First World War from 1900 to 1918.”
In this video Alison Thomas, Head of History and Politics expertly outlines the trip. She said: “The course that we do on the First World War is a quarter of the students GCSE, and that particular exam is one where they're looking at different primary sources and different interpretations. So actually going to the battlefields and seeing all of these primary sources about the First World War, as well as having a sense about how the war was fought, is hugely powerful and very important for how they learn.”
Annabel Powell from Year 11 said: “It's going to help me with my GCSE exam because the trip will help me visualise the locations that we need to write about in the exam. It will help me remember them. I found it really interesting to see how small the trenches were.”
Georgia Young, from Year 11 added: “I think it's really going to help with the GCSE exam because the teachers were telling us all the facts while we were there. I think it just reinforced all the things we're learning at school. Seeing the places and going to museums and reading all the facts for yourself has helped me learn. I found going down in the mines really interesting, I like seeing exactly where they walked. And I think being down there just felt really, really amazing.”
Connor Davies, from Year 10 spoke about remembering two Old Seafordians on the trip. He said: “We laid a wreath at Tyne Cot for C.S.G. Stephens and we remembered A.W. Collins at Thiepval, remembering them felt very poignant and it opened my eyes a lot. I’m in the CCF and I’m very influenced by these soldiers, as they probably did the exact same thing as me. It really is making me think that those people went through the same things as me and I'm honoring their names. At the Remembrance Service yesterday it felt a lot more meaningful and impactful when the Roll of Honour was read out.”
Annabel added: “At the Remembrance Service I'm in the choir and the experiences on the trip made the songs we were singing more emotional because I could picture what we were singing about a lot more. When they read the names, knowing you've been to the graves where those soldiers were made it emotional.”
At Seaford our teachers have the freedom to create an exciting itinerary shaped by their knowledge of past and present events impacting their subject. Enthusiasm and passion for their subjects and global issues often inspires and initiates the trips. In addition, our teachers, who organise and lead trips share their expertise, making these trips intellectually enriching and personally inspiring for students. Our teachers love being guides and sharing their knowledge.
Connor said: “I was very impressed by the teacher's knowledge, as they told us a lot of things without any workbooks or slides in front of them and that shows they really do know their stuff.” Annabel added: “Mr Gisby and Miss Thomas spoke a lot about all the locations, and they had a lot of knowledge.”
Alison said: “We're very lucky in the History Department that Mr Gisby has a Military History degree so he can bring a whole level of expertise when talking about the First World War that lots of the students hadn't necessarily heard before. I think that they found that really, really fascinating. And he was able to answer absolutely every question, the learning was fantastic.”
The itinerary:
Friday in Ypres
"In Flanders Fields" museum at the Cloth Hall in Ypres and Hooge Crater Museum
Saturday in Ypres and then the Somme
Tyne Cot British cemetery, Langemark German cemetery, Lochnagar Crater at La Boiselle, Thiepval memorial, Newfoundland Park, 8pm ceremony at the Last Post and a chocolate shop visit in Ypres.
Sunday in Ypres and Poperinge
Hill 62 Sanctuary Wood and Trench experience and Talbot House Everyman’s Club in Poperinge.
Seaford College was a finalist in the Independent Schools of the Year Award in the School Trips category. We’re very proud of the variety of trips we offer with over 50 trips available at Seaford each year.
In this video our students talk about the trip and how it will help them with their GCSE History exam.