Noticias
Primary Trip to Edinburgh, February 12-16th 2012
KS2 Trip to Edinburgh
Day 1
From the 12th February to the 16th February 2012, a group of 39 intrepid travellers took the brave step of travelling to Edinburgh, Scotland.
After a very long check in at Murcia airport, we finally arrived in Scotland at 22.30 local time.
The flight was quick and the children were very well behaved. The other passengers on the plane commented on how impressed they were by their behaviour. They were truly a credit to the school.
Most of the children were disappointed not to find snow in Edinburgh. It was in fact 3 degrees. The hostel was very warm and we even had to open a few windows! The hostel was very welcoming and we were hugely impressed by it. After the initial excitement of being in a new place, the children eventually settled down to sleep.
Day 2
Day 2 began with a good breakfast and some very bleary eyes. However, the brisk walk along the cobbled streets of Edinburgh, to the Camera Obscura, soon dusted off the cobwebs and we all enjoyed a great demonstration of the camera and ’spying’ on individuals as they walked along the Royal Mile below. The other floors of activities were great fun: the mirror maze and holograms being particularly popular.
Next, as we were in the vicinity, we decided to pay Greyfriar’s Bobby a visit. Greyfriar’s Bobby is a tale of a faithful dog; he watched over his deceased owner in order to make sure his grave wasn’t robbed by the grave-robbers who terrorised Edinburgh in the past. We ventured down the many steps from the top of the Royal Mile across to Greyfriar’s Kirk and saw the grave of the beloved canine and his master. At this point, tummies were beginning to rumble so we dined ‘al fresco’ in the Grassmarket, near the spot of the former gallows!!!
After a fabulous lunch of traditional chips, we marched to the spectacular castle that overlooks the whole city. Once there, we learnt some of the history of the castle and were given a demonstration of WWI soldier’s equipment. The Y3 boys particularly enjoyed watching the lady show how a bayonet was used in battle! We continued around the great castle and saw the former home of Mary Queen of Scots and visited the beautiful Scottish Crown Jewels.
After visiting the castle, we meandered down through the city for a supper of pizzas and pasta. It was a weary but happy crew that returned to the hostel for an early night.
Day 3
After breakfast we all got onto the coach and journeyed towards the Scottish Highlands. As we approached the City of Stirling we were excited to see the impressive sight of Stirling Castle looming over us as we entered the town.
Once inside, we learnt a great deal about the history of the castle as we looked at the cannons overlooking Stirling and the site of the Battle of Bannockburn. From the battlements we could clearly see the strategic position of the castle and why the English and Scots have fought over its possession for hundreds of years.
Inside the castle, we visited the enormous kitchens and discovered that even children would have a daily allowance of beer and wine. This would be 1 Scottish pint a day (equivalent to 3 English pints, about 1.5 Litres!!!).
After the kitchens, we walked up to the Great Hall and Palace (built for his wife by King James IV), where we met one of Queen Mary’s ladies in waiting. She told us all about the customs and habits of people in the Scottish Court in Tudor times. The court jester then explained to us the significance of the Unicorns depicted on the tapestries in the audience chambers and bed chambers of the palace. He also reassured the children that in his day, children only had to wash once every two months, as too much washing let in the germs! I think most of the children agreed!
After lunch, we ventured into the military museum and learnt about the numerous garrisons stationed in the castle and where in the world they fought. The children saw many exhibits varying from models of battles fought by Scottish regiments, to excerpts from actual soldiers’ diaries.
Finally we visited the Queen Anne Chapel and then her gardens, where we saw a huge timeline of Scottish history and some film footage of the battle of Bannockburn.
After what everyone agreed was an excellent time at the castle, we returned to central Edinburgh to run around in Prince’s Street Gardens before the uphill walk to a supper of beef stew with ‘tatties’ in a bistro.
Day 4
Our final day began with a bus journey to the docks to visit the Royal Yacht Britannia. This is a truly magnificent vessel which was decommissioned in 1997 after it sailed its last voyage carrying the Queen and her entourage. In its lifetime of 50 years, this ship has covered over a million miles! It was fascinating to walk around the rooms and decks where the British Royal Family once worked and played and to see the difference between their rooms (’quarters’) and those of the ordinary crewman.
After our al fresco lunch, we decided to surprise the children with an open-top bus ride around the city. We listened to the commentary telling us all about some of the interesting buildings around the city. The bus then dropped us off near the Royal Mile and we walked uphill (again!!!) to the Auld Reekie Tours….
The Auld Reekie Tours was a journey into Edinburgh’s less salubrious past. It was a tour of the vaults made under North Bridge. These once housed thousands of homeless people, some two hundred years ago, and were infamous in their time for crime and disease. We were given an entertaining talk about some of the ghosts that still wander these underground halls. After which we were shown how dark it truly was in the vaults when our guide switched off his torch!
In stark contrast, we then paid a quick visit to the museum of childhood just around the corner where the children were interested to see some of the ‘old fashioned’ video games us grown-ups once played. The girls were fascinated by the dolls and dolls-houses and I believe that an original Rupert the Bear was also spotted.
Finally, we ate a sumptuous dinner at the Hard Rock Café. Everyone enjoyed the music that was played and we were all interested in the rock memorabilia displayed around the walls. The children were very excited to buy their ‘Hard Rock Café’ t-shirts and trinkets.
It was finally off to the hostel for a very early night.
Day 5
The last day! We ate a very early breakfast and headed for Edinburgh airport at 8.15am. Even though the children were weary their behaviour throughout our long journey home was impeccable.
Miss Shreeve, Year 4 teacher and Trip Leader said: ‘It can be safely said that the annual KS2 trip this year has been a rip-roaring success. Here’s to the next one! By all accounts Rome is the next stop!’
Valentine´s Disco, 10th February 2012
On Friday 10th February about 40 children from Years 3 to 6 took part in a Valentine´s Disco. Brilliantly organised and run by Becca Scott and Lottie Brown, including food and drinks, music, decoration and all the games, the disco ran from 5 to 7pm. There was musical statues, pass the parcel and musical chairs, as well as a competition for best dancer. Mr Rumsitrzewicz gets Mr Silk´s vote, but unfortunately he was inelligible for the prize. All the parents came eager to collect their children at 7pm to spend some time with them before they were whisked off to Edinburgh on an exciting school trip. In the Primary School at King´s the children burn the candle at both ends! Thanks of course go to Lottie and Becca, but also to Mr Rumistrzewicz and Mr Silk for supervising, although we were disappointed that Mr Silk did not take to the dance floor (apparently he was too worried he would be shown up by Mr R and the children of course).
King's College Opens Art Gallery, 26th January 2012
What a superb opening night of our School Art Gallery! It was extremely well attended by parents, on spec. visitors and even fellow artists and sculptors. The tapas and drinks were enjoyed by all and it was great to see some of our own pupils there. Already in the first few days of the exhibition teachers have taken advantage of the gallery and used the space for their own classes. It really is a fantastic space and a real credit to the school. A big thank you to Eppo Cardelo and Cristina Pelfort and also to Mr Green for his input and we look forward to seeing future exhibitions going on in the gallery. A reminder if you would like to exhibit in our art gallery then please contact Mr Nicholas Green at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Lastly, do come and visit during the day any time between 9.30 and 5.30pm because the exhibition will be ongoing up to the middle of March. The art work really is superb and it is well worth a visit. Also do remember that all art work on display is for sale, if any piece of work takes your fancy.
Inter-House Scrabble 2012
Inter-House Scrabble
The four houses battled it out at ‘Scrabble’ this week, with Churchill House emerging the victors, winning all four of their matches.
For those who do not know the game, ‘Scrabble’ involves the players needing to form words from a certain amount of letters and, in the case of our in house rules, a certain amount of time. The letters are then placed on a board and the score determined by the letters used, the length of the word and the squares the letters are placed on. As we have a range of languages used at King’s College, the pupils were allowed to form words from English, Spanish, French and German. This gave them more possibilities and also tested their knowledge of the languages.
The matches were very closely fought and in most cases it was not clear who would win until right at the end. Nevertheless, Churchill House proved too strong this time for the other house teams. Their final game was against Cervantes House, who had also won their previous two matches, but close to the end Shea Toomey (Year 9) placed a word scoring a gigantic 45 points which sealed the win. Churchill House had not won a house competition in the Secondary School so far this year, so well done to their Scrabble team for giving their house something to shout about.
FANTASY… OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT
- 18 Jan 12
Last Wednesday, we all enjoyed “La Nuca Teatro” performance “Fantasy… (or something like this)”, an adventure about three characters who are expelled from their worlds because of being different. They are sent to a forgotten world, used as a place for leftovers and waste. In this world the three of them learn how to accept each other. Meanwhile, in their worlds, things start to go wrong without them… Both students and teachers had a great time and we also realized how important it is to accept everybody just as they are, as well as accepting ourselves. Thank you everyone for your attendance!
