Trips

Swanmore Pupils on the Run

Twenty Swanmore Athletes took part in the junior version of the world famous GREAT NORTH RUN this weekend. Crowds packed the Tyneside's Quayside as more than 5000 runners took part in this event which is open to runners between the age of three and sixteen. They started and finished among the array of Bridges spanning the Tyne. The events took in the Millennium Bridge and the Swing Bridge and runners ran past the Baltic, Sandwell and Pipewell Gates.   The pupils who entered the run were:  M Boyes M10 T Mills M5 P Curran H3 B Parsons H6 J Dillow H8 A Palmer A7 A Deveney W1 R Paterson H2 S Golding W2 L Pike A9 K Humphrey W3 L Platt M1 H Jenkins W2 T Roberts M6 E Martin W2 L Rowsewell M2 W Short H2 F Taylor W2 D Wembridge A5 J Taylor  A1     Watch the slideshow and see the photos on the College's VLE    http://swanmore.schoolvle.org/      There was the additional attraction of the inaugural clash of the battle between England and Australia for the Athletics Ashes. England thumped Australia 10 - 1 in a range of track and field events, star performers being Christine Ohuruogu and Marlon Devonish over the 150 metres.       The Swanmore Athletes relaxed on the Hadrian's Wall by the Angel of the North before their races, and produced as is now expected, high performances that tested the athletes of the North.   Jeremy Broadway Swanmore College of Technology

MFL trip to Cologne and the Rhineland, Germany 12th – 17th July 2009

Thirty-five students of German (Years 8-11) and four teachers (Mrs Franklin, Miss Yemm, Mr Ainsworth and Mr Rumsey) left Swanmore College at 6am on Sunday 12th July for the journey to Cologne, stopping in Belgium for lunch en route and arriving at Köln-Deutz youth hostel at 6.30 in time for dinner. Although it poured with rain for the whole journey we were blessed with hot sunny weather for the whole of our time in Germany.

We had a packed itinerary, including a cruise on the Rhine; a visit to Rüdesheim, a lovely little hillside town situated on the banks of the Rhine; tours of the Olympic Sports Museum, the Chocolate Museum and a walking tour of Cologne itself; an exploration of Ehrenbreitstein fortress in Koblenz, one of the strongest fortresses in Europe during the time of the Napoleonic wars; a tour of Beethoven’s birthplace in Bonn, former capital of West Germany between 1945 and 1990 and, on the penultimate day, Phantasialand  which was of course very popular with our pupils, although not everyone enjoyed the Black Mamba, the park’s newest ride!

Evening entertainment included a quiz; an, at times, hilarious talent show; a trip to a swimming pool, where we had a much needed chance to cool down and star gazing in front of the magnificent cathedral.

Our trip ended with a lunchtime stop in Bruges on the way back to Calais. Our return journey was also rainy but cleared up for our walk along the canals into the famous squares in the centre of Bruges. We saw Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child in the Protestant cathedral and admired the Flemish architecture all around us.

As usual, Swanmore pupils were excellent ambassadors for the college and relished the opportunity to practise their German as much as possible.