News & Headteacher Blogs

Our Year 9s just came back from a fantastic trip to Italy to enjoy the incredible mountain range and the snow under skis. Our students travelled to the Italian Alps for a week of skiing, fresh mountain air and, for many, a completely new experience. For some it was their first time on skis. For others, a chance to build confidence and develop their skills further. What stood out across the week was the way students supported one another, pushed themselves, and embraced every part of the trip.

Sestriere, part of the extensive Milky Way ski area, gave us an excellent setting. With wide, open pistes and stunning views across the mountains, it offered something for every level. Students took part in daily lessons with experienced instructors, and it was impressive to see just how much progress was made in a short space of time. From those tentative first steps on the slopes to confidently linking turns, the sense of achievement was clear.

Away from the skiing, the trip had a strong sense of fun. Evenings were spent enjoying time as a group, whether that was sharing a pizza night, heading out for gelato, or ending the day with a lively disco. They build friendships, independence and confidence in ways that simply cannot be recreated in the classroom.

Thank you to all the staff who gave their time to make the trip possible and supported the students throughout the week. Their care, organisation and encouragement ensured that the experience was both safe and memorable.

George tells us more about it!..

The first day was mainly recovering from the long journey, and early start we just had. Despite barely being able to stay awake on the first bus ride, we all found it easy to enjoy the beautiful Italian mountains and countryside on the second bus ride.  

On the second day (and for the rest of the week) we got up nice and early so we could make the most of our ski time. Out of everything skiing involves, carrying the skis is by far the hardest part. I was in the intermediate group, so we started off on short blue and red slopes. Because it was the first day, everyone was falling off, especially Ned (even though according to ned, lots of them were my fault for ‘crashing into him’ but I don’t seem to remember that bit). As the week went on you could see everyone was getting better and better, parallel skiing, higher speeds, less crashes were all noticeable differences. We all downloaded an app called slopes, it can record things such as your top speed, average speed and distance covered. As many year nines would be, we were all very competitive to get the top speed, and at times got a little overconfident or overly brave. On the third day, me and Freddy R had a little competition to see who could get the top speed that day. Near the end, I was losing by 0.2kph so I thought it would be a good idea to go in a straight line on one of the steepest parts we had done so far. Unfortunately, I forgot the part about having to stop, so Cam B got a big bruise and only one pole – the other snapped (sorry Cam). However, that did result in me beating Freddy, even if it did mean Cameron had to ski with one pole for the rest of the day. 

Everyone enjoined going into town after skiing. It was a great way to relax as skiing is surprisingly tiring. There were some good shops, but my favourites were the Juventus shop, and the Shawarma shop. 

I would say that my joint favourite part of the whole trip was completing the Olympic course, and the party night was equally fun. 

If I could, I would defiantly do it again. I am trying to convince my family to go on a ski holiday now that I know how fun it is. 

Thanks to all the teachers on the trip for making it happen, but especially Miss Tudor and Miss Gosling as they were in my group the most and had to stop quite a bit, especially on the first days, to help me up.