Over the bank holiday weekend, led by Mr Raine, Head of History, most of Year 9 visited the World War One Battlefields of France and Belgium. This is one of the most important academic trips at Channing and it is always filled with poignant moments when the students realise for themselves the enormous impact that the war had on a generation of young men from many different countries.

The students visited Ypres, seeing a range of WW1 cemeteries including Tyne Cot and Langemark. They then spent a day at the Somme in France, including Thiepval and Newfoundland Park at Beaumont-Hamel. One of the highlights of the visit was when Cristina C and Winnie D laid a wreath on behalf of Channing at the Menin Gate in Ypres as part of the nightly Last Post ceremony.

The final day included a visit to the largest French military cemetery, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, and a tour of the tunnels and trenches at Vimy Ridge, where the Canadian regiments fought together for the first time, in 1917. The students were wonderful ambassadors for the school and many thanks to the staff who accompanied them.