A trip to Normandy gave Year 8 students the opportunity to practise their French, experience another culture and visit historical landmarks.

During the half term trip, students were taken to see famous sights such as the Bayeux tapestry and the Mont St Michel.

They also visited the beach at Arromanches, a local market and the seaside town of St Malo. At the Chateau students had the opportunity to have a go at archery, climbing and zip wire as well as try frog legs and snails and dress up for the French-themed evening. The students were very enthusiastic and eager to try new things, and impressed the staff with their use of French during the visit.

Student Thomas Larmour said: “Our trip to Normandy was awesome! We visited places like the landing beach and the Bayeux tapestry which were all really interesting. The chateau was very nice and had a lot of facilities on the site. The entertainment was really fun. I wish I could go again."

Student Rebecca Tillsley compiled a diary about the trip:

30 students from KSA travelled to France. We had to get the ferry overnight and then hopped onto the coach the following day. Our coach driver took us to the Bayeux tapestry which everyone enjoyed. We were also taken to a war cemetery and a war museum which was upsetting but also very educational.

Then we were driven to our Chateau where we unpacked and were shown the site.

Our entertainment that evening was a treasure hunt. Most teams worked with some Year 6 students from another school. After that we had a choice of hot chocolate or to go back to our dorms.

The following day Miss Hancox woke us up at roughly 7:30 French time. We all had breakfast, which was a chocolate croissant and cereal, collected our rucksacks or travel bags and went shopping in the hyper market. We ordered many things in the shops and spoke in French to MANY people. We were shopping in different places until lunch which we had at the park. In the afternoon we stayed on the site because we did rockclimbing, archery and zipwire which were all very good. We had free time and our theme that night was France where we got a choice of frogs and snails at dinner. We got dressed up for French night and did a French quiz. Then again we got a choice of hot chocolate then headed back to our dorms.

The next day we went to the Mont St Michel. We certainly enjoyed it, the sights were fabulous but the steps were shockingly hard to climb up. We had free time where we explored. All of us had a disco and a talent show in the evening. We laughed so much at the performances.

The following day we packed and got ready to leave France we had breakfast earlier than normal and gave our suitcases to the driver. We said goodbye to France and got onto the ferry and before we knew it after the long coach journey we were back in Kettering.