Tag Archives: excursion

Day 28 – Wednesday, 7 August 2019 – Oxford

Summer school 2019 is almost finished, but not before one more amazing excursion. This time, students went to Oxford, a beautiful historic city, known for its world-famous university.

To make sure we were ready to have a great day, our chef prepared delicious pancakes.

Pancakes for breakfast!

By 10:30 we were off the bus and ready to experience the best Oxford has to offer. Students had chosen between a relaxing punting ride on the river and a visit to the Natural History and Pitt Rivers museums.

Punting in Oxford

The punting adventure is a piece of classic Oxford experience. It took us along a shallow river from where we could see some of the city’s most famous locations. Not only were the sights pretty, but the ride itself was very relaxing and serene. We even saw some ducks swimming next to our boats.

The fabulous Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford

The Natural History museum is a wonderful place with lots of exhibits you can touch and read about, but the attached Pitt Rivers museum is a really special and unique place. It’s a museum of things from all over the world, organized by topic, not by time or place. This fact alone makes visiting this museum a very rewarding experience, like going into a collector’s secret giant room. Its three floors are packed with all sorts of things from tools and weapons, to totems and the famous shrunken heads of the enemies of amazonian tribes.

After some free time to enjoy Oxford, the two groups met up in front of the iconic Christ Church Cathedral and headed back to Moor Park or “home”, as sometimes students refer to it, as it really does feel like home after all this wonderful time we spent together.

Take a walk through Oxford with us!

Day 21 – Wednesday, 31 July 2019 – London, Warwick Castle & Stratford

London

Because the early bird catches the worm and in this case, the worm was the largest city in the United Kingdom and the 27th largest in the world, we got up early today. We were heading to London.

London calling.

One group went to the British Museum and spent a couple of hours immersed in history, witnessing artefacts of worldwide heritage, such as the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon Marbles and the Egyptian mummies.

Andrei (Romania), Benedict, Charlie and Victor (Germany) after a quick history lesson about the Parthenon.

The other group went on a boat ride from the Tower of London to Westminster and then went on a walking tour towards Piccadilly Circus. Eventually, the two groups met and headed to Buckingham Palace.

We used our weather control system to make sure our photos were brilliant that day.

Warwick Castle & Stratford

At the same time, another group of students stepped back in history and explored the marvellous Warwick Castle. On the nearly 1000-year-old site, they went into a scary dungeon to experience a lesser known side of history. For a more classic story, they saw a live reenactment of an important piece of England’s past – the Wars of the Roses. Live actors, horses, and special effects served as a great reminder of how captivating history can be.

Did you know that both William the Conqueror and Winston Churchill lived in the castle? We wonder if they were roommates…

Archery, bird shows, exhibitions… There were plenty of things to do and see at Warwick, but our students had another important historical place to visit…

Stratford upon Avon

In the city’s centre, one house stands apart from all the rest. In fact, it stands apart from every other house in the world. It is where William Shakespeare was born. It is hard not to be in awe knowing that you are standing just a few feet (almost three times less in metres) away from where the greatest writer in the entire history of English literature took his first steps.

“We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” – Hamlet

Such moments make us wonder where our students will be when they grow up – just how proud we’ll feel when we hear how they’re tackling the world’s toughest challenges. We can’t wait to read all about it in the future, when it is all history.

Header photo by Christopher Chadarevian, More Than English alumnus.

Day 11 – Sunday 21 July 2019 – Birmingham

Students and teachers spent the morning working hard in English lessons.

Ludlow is in beautiful countryside. But Birmingham the super cosmopolitan second city, is only just over one hour away. That means More Than English students can get the best of both worlds.

Birmingham, in the heart of the Midlands (central region of the UK) was an industrial powerhouse during the industrial revolution, but these days is probably better known for its fantastic universities including The University of Birmingham, currently ranked No 15 out of 140 in The Times) plus the biggest and perhaps one of the most modern and architecturally ambitious shopping centres in Europe.

Selfridges – part of the ultra modern shopping experience in Birmingham

Home sweet home

Interesting: students always love the fun of going to the city. But, they always seem glad to arrive back home in their international community in their countryside palace: Moor Park.

Arriving home from Birmingham
Home sweet home

Preparation for international night

In the evening our lovely students working in mixed nationality teams started preparation for International Night, which is tomorrow.

Food for thought

Shopping on summer school excursions: that's controversial, isn't it? 
Consumerism is destroying our planet (your planet) isn't it? Young people love fast fashion but shouldn't we avoid encouraging this altogether? In fact, shouldn't we be trying to reduce shopping time on excursions to zero?

On the other hand, teenagers just really enjoy shopping and although with globalisation we're tending to get the same shops in every country, it is still exciting to visit shops in different countries.

Let us know what you think: info@morethanenglish.co.uk

Day 7 – Wednesday, 17 July 2019

Wednesday was excursion day. One group set out to London and another one to Manchester. That’s two excursions in parallel. Think of the logistics…

London

This is the biggest excursion of our summer school. Breakfast and lunch was already packed and we set off early for the big city.

A smaller group got dropped off at the British Museum. They really enjoyed it, especially the Egyptian mummies.

Hey, we’re at the British Museum!

The second and larger group went on a boat cruise on the river Thames. That was so much fun.

When you smile, the world smiles back at you.
Look, it’s St Paul’s Cathedral!

We jumped on the boat at Tower Bridge and got off at Westminster, next to the Parliament and Big Ben, which – unfortunately – is covered up for repairs. Oh well…

Tower Bridge is always a great photo opportunity.

We continued on foot, heading towards Piccadilly Circus, passing by 10 Downing str. No moving vans yet.

They did neither.

Eating out and doing shopping is always on the to-do list.

Product placement.

We walked for more than 7.5 miles. A healthy mind needs a healthy body, as the ancient Greeks said, right?

At Trafalgar Square – photobombed by a giant lion.

The flag on top of Buckingham Palace was up, which means that the Queen was in, but she was too busy to come and meet us. We waved anyway.

Royal waving.

Manchester

The group that went to Manchester enjoyed a more relaxed itinerary. Even though they probably got to walk less, they practised their penalty kicks at the Football Museum.

We are the champions!
A football fan’s dream.

There are other things one can see at Manchester though. It’s such a lovely city!

Outside the Manchester Cathedral.

You are now safe back at school and you can unfasten your seatbelt. There are more journeys up ahead, so get ready to do more.