Trips & Experiences
We recognise the importance extra-curricular trips and experiences can have for our pupils at Burghill Community Academy. Our school exists in a small, countryside village within one of England's most rural counties and we believe that these trips can not only provide the children with long-lasting happy memories but also give them an opportunity to experience the wider-world. Here are a few examples of the extra-curricular trips we have run for our pupils in recent times:
Plymouth (Residential)
Our school residential is an activity-laden trip to Devon, staying at the fantastic Mount Batten Centre in Brtain's Ocean City. This trip has been created by our Y5/6 teacher, Mr. Locke, so is unique to us. Rather than a stereotypical outdoor-adventure-centre-style residential, it has something for everyone with activities covering a wide range of the curriculum. A wander around the historic Barbican and Plymouth Hoe gives the children a taste of history while a boat trip on Britain's first national marine park (Plymouth Sound) ticks both the science, geography and history boxes as the children learn about Darwin's journey on the HMS Beagle. Sailing and orienteering at the MBC provides children with their adventurous outdoor activities as well as our trip to the famous Tinside Lido for a swim in the saltwater pool. Then there's just enough time to fit in a bit more science with a trip to the National Marine Aquarium - the UK's largest aquarium - for an educational workshop and guided tour. Aside from those curriculum links, the trip also provides the children with an amazing opportunity to work on their independence as well as the Year 6s getting to spend some precious time with their friends on a summer, seaside holiday before heading off to their respective high schools.
Surfing
We created the 'Surfing to High School' trip in 2022 and it now involves children from across 5 different schools taking part in a surfing experience at The Wave, Bristol. The aim of this trip is to give some of our Year 6s an opportunity to meet and make friends with children from neighbouring primary schools who will be attending the same high schools as them as well as work on building their social confidence by experiencing something new with others. The trip has been a great success and we're always looking forward to more children getting active, trying something new and making friends on our next visit.
West End Trip
In October 2023 we travelled to London to enjoy a show in the world-famous West End. As well as getting to enjoy 'Frozen' at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the children got a taste of the London life too by travelling on the Tube together. We will be travelling back to London in 2024 to see the musical 'Wicked' before the film adaptation is released later in the year.
Wimbledon
In both 2022 and 2023 we were incredibly lucky to be successful in the Wimbledon Schools Ballot. This has enabled us to take 8 different children each year to the world-famous Wimbledon Championships to enjoy elite-level tennis...and the famous strawberries and cream! The children also got to experience what it's like to be at an event watched by millions of people around the world - in 2023 trip our children were even interviewed by CBBC Newsround! We will continue to enter the ballot every year and hope to attend again in the future.
Women's Football (F.A. Cup Finals & Euro 2022)
We have long been fans of women's football at Burghill Community Academy and can claim to be the organisers of one of the oldest inter-school primary girls football competitions in the county but our love for the sport also extends to trips too. We ran the school's first ever trip to Wembley Stadium in 2019 for the Women's F.A Cup Final and returned in 2023 to be a part of the record-breaking crowd of 77,390 fans who saw Chelsea beat Manchester United. We were also incredibly lucky to get to experience, first-hand, part of the Lionesses journey to Euro 2022 glory when we travelled to Southampton and saw them beat Northern Ireland 4-1 in their final group game.
Young Voices
We have been going to Young Voices since 2023. The event is billed as "the largest school choir in the world" with multiple, sell-out events taking place in venues across the UK. We travel to Resorts World Arena in Birmingham to take part and the children have the best time, singing the songs they've learnt at choir as well as seeing amazing performers on stage in front of them. A great opportunity for the children to take part in and experience live performances. Friends and family are also able to buy tickets to attend and take in all the action.
