Students Trips
Ladybridge High School on the road to success
Humanities France trip 8Th – 12th July 2009
The trip followed on from the inaugural success of July 2008. This year, 44 pupils from years 9 and 10 enjoyed a 5 day tour of France which began with a tour of the war graves, memorial sites and battlefields of The Somme in Northern France. It was a time for reflection and gave insight into the enormity and tragedy of WW1. The second day was spent visiting many of the main attractions of Paris centre which included the La Grande Arche, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, Place de la Concorde and the Eiffel Tower. This was finished off with a tranquil boat ride along the River Seine, taking in Paris by night. On the last day of the trip, it was spent experiencing the flamboyant atmosphere and thrill rides in Disneyland Resort and Studios. It was great success and many thanks to Miss Taylor, Miss Beattie, Miss Rogers, Mr Wyatt and Mr Kay, for leading the visit. The trip is due to run again from Monday 19th –Friday 23rd July 2010 for years 9 and 10 Humanities pupils.
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France Trip
Ladybridge pupils recently enjoyed a magical trip to Paris. The following diary was kept by Alychia & Myisha;
8th - 12th July
We were on the coach and ready to set off by 6am. It was a fun but long drive to Dover. When we finally boarded the ferry was to our surprise like a shopping centre inside. After a short and smooth journey on the ferry we got back in our coach with driver Jeff and headed off to our first hotel in Calais.
After a good night sleep we went to visit the battlefields and war graves. Once finished we went to our second hotel where we had a meal. The next day, we drove to Eiffel tower and various other sights seeing places in Paris. Later that night, we had a boat ride down the river seine on a boat called bateaux- mouches. The next day we went to Euro Disney which was a brilliant day. We had to say our goodbyes to Paris on the fifth day we went home.
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Berlin Trip: Monday 13th April – Saturday 18th April 2009
During the Easter holidays, the History Department once again visited the German capital city of Berlin. Previous visits, in 2007 and 2008, had been a massive success and this year proved to be no exception.
39 students were accompanied by Miss Taylor, Mr Mattock, Mrs Houlihan and Miss Catlow and this year we had fine warm weather! Feedback from previous years has been very positive so we kept to the same itinerary. We stayed at the world famous Generator Hostel and used the tram network to see all the historical sites. The Story of Berlin museum is relatively new and has attracted a lot of attention due to its impressive exhibitions.
The Underground Tunnels are another key attraction and proved very popular with our students. Our ‘Walking Tour’ guide was fantastic and we visited Checkpoint Charlie, the Reichstag and Hitler’s Bunker. Perhaps, the most moving part of the trip was our visit to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. The reality of what happened in Nazi Germany dawned on the students and gave them plenty to think about.
The hostel has a great reputation for catering for teenagers and with karaoke, discos and the football on, everyone was happy! We also had a lovely meal in an Italian restaurant to celebrate 2 birthdays! Once again, the pupils were a credit to the school. A big thank you to all involved.
Fin Barrago History Department
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Ladybridge Meets Saatchi & Saatchi
On Tuesday 17th March, ten Yr 10 and Yr 11 students were invited to go to Ripley St Thomas school in Lancaster to listen to a presentation by Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi Worldwide. His company is responsible for adverts you will be familiar with from a whole host of companies including Cadbury, Toyota and Guinness. He has also worked with the NSPCC for the past 20 yrs designing their campaigns. So inspired by his presentation, the Ladybridge students wrote the following report of their experience:
Dream. Avoid moderation. Be different. Inspire. Never have these few words echoed so loudly in both the minds and hearts of the ten Ladybridge students lucky enough to be at Ripley St Thomas High School in Lancaster this morning.
Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi Worldwide, gave an incredibly inspirational talk about success, business and life. As visitors, we were very privileged to be granted access to this opportunity, especially as he was giving up his extremely valuable time to speak to us and share his life experiences and expertise.
Kevin invited us into the exciting, creative business of marketing and public relations and gave us an insight into what it is like to be successful and follow your dream. The motif that left a big impression on the minds of our group was the pursuit of failure: 'Fail Fast, Learn Fast, Fix Fast'. It is easy to make mistakes as long as you learn from them. We also learnt that an important rule in life is to follow your dream; don't have any regrets as 'nothing is as painful as regret'. Kevin asked us to think with our hearts as 'your heart is the compass that leads to happiness'.
All in all, the whole experience has been very thought provoking and extremely inspiring. We'd like to thank Kevin Roberts for filling us with his drive and determination and we'd like to extend a special thanks to Ripley St Thomas for their outstanding hospitality.
This report was sent to Kevin immediately and he has responded saying, ‘Am glad you enjoyed it. I was very impressed with the spirit of your Ladybridge Team. Uplifting’.
If you would like to find out more about the work of Kevin Roberts, go to: www.saatchikevin.com
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Visit to Porsche, Chester
The letter below was written as a letter of thanks to the Porsche Garage in Chester. Students on our Aim Higher programme had a wonderful time!
Dear Adrian Kermode, Alan McCarthy and the rest of Porsche,
I would like to thank you for allowing me, my friends and teachers access to the Porsche Centre on 19th December 2008. I really enjoyed viewing the cars and hearing the facts, not only about the cars, but Porsche as a brand also.
It was very helpful to hear about the pricing of the cars and how it is possible for customers to buy their cars in an easy and affordable way. Even as the tour was commencing, my mind was calculating just how much I would need to earn, along with money already saved, to buy a 911 turbo, in speed yellow, naturally - turns out, quite a lot!
While I was at the centre, I was told that once you have bought a Porsche, you very rarely change your brand of car and even from just viewing the cars, I can understand why. Now, whenever I look at a car, I just automatically think, ‘Nice, but it’s not a Porsche.’ I guess the cars have that sort of an effect on you.
I feel very privileged to have been able to speak to Adrian Kermode, as I know how busy he must be, despite me not having questions to ask him. I think I was a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing - it’s not every day you get to be surrounded by an amazing range of Porsches!
I would also like to thank you for the gifts you gave us - I spent our journey back home looking through the 911 turbo and accessories booklets, but haven’t drawn in the sketchbook yet, I’m too afraid to ruin it!
Finally, I would like to express my thanks for the chance to sit in a 911 turbo - it just made me want one even more than I first had! I think everyone had a great time, and I personally will be taking you up on that invite to come back again any time, although I’m sure it’ll be a good few years before I can afford a Porsche and its insurance!
All in all, it was a wonderful visit and I just wanted to express my gratitude - so for about the tenth time, thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Meghan (of Ladybridge High)
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Year 7 Residential to Kingswood - November 2008
