Our lucky 10 year 8 pupils, who were selected to go on an all-expenses-paid trip to Germany in summer as part of the Turing project, have started their adventure already. The excited year 8s met for the first time as a group to talk about their likes and dislikes; what they were looking forward to and what they were nervous about; and their travel history. They also had an opportunity to virtually meet the other 40 year 8s from other schools within Matrix Academy Trust who would be joining them in Germany. Approximately a month after the initial meeting, all 50 pupils had the opportunity to go on a school trip together: the group travelled to The Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham to watch The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

Pupils made the most of the opportunity to enjoy the company of the other pupils and to share in the excitement and sense of adventure of the characters in the play. Pupils represented their 5 schools brilliantly and both theatre staff and members of the public commented on the exemplary behaviour of pupils. Since then, our year 8 pupils who are going to Germany had a chance to meet the year 9s who are going to Spain at an event where parents were given more information about the trip and passports were ordered- making the trip seem very real! We look forward to more pre-departure events where pupils will taste German food and have a chance to practise their essential German phrases before we finally board the plane (for some of our pupils, for the first time) and head over to Fulda, Germany for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to remember.