School Trips - Michaelmas Term 2024

Brass & Dance Tour to St Lucia - October Half Term 2024

A year in the making, with weekly rehearsals running from May until October 2024, we couldn't believe it when October finally rolled around...we were off to the Caribbean! The Brass and Dance tour to St Lucia was one word: outstanding! 34 pupils and 6 staff pupils worked exceptionally hard throughout the 9 day tour, delivering a series of six concerts to hundreds of locals. We also enjoyed a dance workshop with the Silver Shadow Dance Academy and a Steel Pan workshop with the reigning carnival champions, Allison Marquis, at Pan Yard. We performed to hundreds of local people, including at primary and secondary schools, as well as the workshops mentioned above, and a workshop afternoon with the St Lucia School of Music. A highlight of our concert series was our very special joint concert with the Royal St Lucia Police State Band. We were surprised to hear that the Police High Commissioner had heard about our performances on the island and made a special visit to see us perform at this event! In between our busy rehearsal and concert schedule we enjoyed site seeing on the beautiful island. Possibly the group's favourite day was the boat cruise around the island, where we visited the Sulphur Mud baths, the Diamond Waterfall and Botanical Gardens. The afternoon included lunch on board, and lots of dancing and singing to the party music on the deck! Pupils have made friends for life, swapping contact details with local girls at the schools we visited, with whom they still keep in contact with today. Music tours are very special; they bring a group closer together than ever before with the mixture of concerts, activities and free time. Any group that goes on tour have months of preparation and then the adrenaline we all feel when we're there, performing and bringing joy to hundreds of locals is second to none. The group always return with a sense of accomplishment, a better understanding a new culture and with new life long friendships. We celebrated our successes with a showcase performance at our 3rd annual Big Brass Blow Out, which was a fantastic event of such a high standard, and the traditional tour reunion, which was of course Caribbean themed! This tour was the first time we combined the Brass and Dance department at Queen's and what a hit it's been! We are very much looking forward to our next Brass and Dance Tour to Greece in 2025! 

India D'Arcy 

Duke of Edinburgh Expedition in Brecon Beacon National Park

Twelve of our most resilient II Junior pupils took part in the Silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition on 18-20 October in Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales. The weather was extraordinary for the first two days, providing breath-taking views and autumn colours as far as the eye could see. Two teams with matching rucksacks marched nearly 40 km across the Welsh countryside from Abergavenny to Llanthony, camping next to the awe-inspiring Llanthony Priory dating back over 900 years. The trip was cut short when Storm Ashley arrived early on the final morning, delivering heavy rain and high winds, and sending us on one final adventure: to navigate the railways of Britain during a storm.

Sean Kohut

Junior College Paris Trip 

18 Juniors enjoyed a long weekend in Paris, practicing their French and making the most of the city’s culture and history. Art museums, Shoah memorial, restaurants and local food, there was something for everyone. Braving the cold was not a problem either, with a hot chocolate and pastries in their hands to make things even better. 

Cécile Rinjonneau