Battlefields trip On 14 April, 38 pupils and four teachers departed for the battlefields of the First World War. They visited various sites around Ypres, the Somme and Arras. The students took the opportunity to pay their respects - three laid a wreath at the Menin Gate at the Last Post ceremony; and everyone paid their respects at Pozieres Memorial to three OAs who lost their lives on the Somme battlefields. Over the Easter holidays, 34 Fourth Year pupils from both Abingdon and St Helen and St Katharine embarked on a week of cultural and linguistic immersion in Lyon. Pupils attended French lessons in the morning at a local language school before taking on a number of sights in the city in the afternoons. These included the Groupama football stadium, the Traboules and the Institut Lumière, where they learned about the birth of cinema in Lyon. Pupils enjoyed the challenge of communicating with host families in French, ordering food in the local eateries, and navigating the Metro. Fourth Year French trip to Lyon 3 abingdon.org.uk Five Lower Sixth students completed their Duke of Edinburgh Gold canoeing training and practice expedition over the Easter holidays. They focused on essential paddling, capsize and rescue training before navigating the waterways in two canoes and a touring kayak along the Kennet and Avon Canal. This included passing over the picturesque Dundas Aqueduct and learning how to efficiently portage locks. They finished on day four with a paddle on the Oxford Canal. The team showed excellent camaraderie, teamwork, and determination throughout. Canoe do it? Fifty three First Year students travelled to Rock UK's Summit Centre in Wales over the Easter break for an adventure trip. As well as aerial adventure, archery, bushcraft, climbing, canoeing and crate stacking, they spent a day in the surrounding countryside following the path of a river from its source up in the mountains, down through a cave system, to a spectacular waterfall. It was a great way to hone their team building and communication skills and make new friends. Adventure trip News Abingdon
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