Read All About Our Year 11 Students’ Visit to Berlin

Taking students on educational visits is a vital part of their educational experience, an aspect of learning we have been missing for a few years for reasons known to us all. Our recent visit to Berlin with 35 Year 11 Historians brought home to me how important these learning moments are for students, both culturally & socially.

Flickr album: Berlin Trip 2023 | Height: auto | Theme: Default | Skin: Default Skin

Guides at and every venue we visited were impressed and remarked upon the curiosity and appetite for learning displayed by our students; we are very proud of them. I would like to especially thank Ms Hammacher, Ms Usmani & Mr Thorpe for their energy and enthusiasm throughout the trip and Mr Nuno Pereira, who did so much in advance to ensure our visit was well-planned and organised.

Jon Burke
Deputy Head and KS4 Lead

Location: Reichstag ( report by Bella)

What did you learn?
I learnt a lot about the history of the building and its usage before and after the Nazi era.

What impression did it make on you?
It made an amazing impression, and the tour guide was amazing, the best one we had.

What was the best moment of the trip?
The best moment of the trip was the day we went to the Olympic stadium, Sachsenhausen CC and the Reichstag, as it was the most enlightening and fun experience.

Location: Sachsenhausen Concentration camp  (report by Celia & Esra)

What did you learn?
I really got to see the conditions people were put through in real life. The effects of the holocaust and what happened in these camps don't hit/feel real until you visit this camp.

Going to the camp, we were able to see the real-life conditions of the prisoners, and for many of us, this put into perspective everything we had learnt about concentration camps. We also learnt that the prisoners could be of any race, ethnicity and nationality; it didn´t matter who you were not since you threatened the nazi reign. Moreover, we realised that the people living around were completely aware of the atrocities that were taking place but decided to turn a blind eye. This highlighted the importance of standing up for what is right and never letting something unjust and unethical take place.

What impression did it make on you?
It changed my whole idea of how it was to another level. I think seeing a camp like this in real life is really important. It affects people on different levels, and seeing that is very interesting to me. 

Celia - For me, the camp was an opportunity to link all the knowledge we had gained over many lessons with the emotional response that we felt when visiting the camp. It was a very hostile and cold environment which made us understand on a small scale, what life would've been like.


Location: Checkpoint Charlie Museum (report by Gui)

What did you learn?
In Checkpoint Charlie, we learned how East Berliners tried to get into West Berlin. We learned about the many ways people escaped, like the hundreds of tunnels dug and how West Berliners were able to help and support East refugees. In the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, we also learned much about the Cold War and its key events.

What impression did it make on you?
It taught me a lot about how desperate people were to escape the horrible communist lifestyle; I could also get the feeling of the impact of the wall and how the cities were divided. I could sense this in the architecture of the buildings and how the people acted on each side of the city

Pergamonmuseum (report by Lara)

What did you learn?
Leaving lasting impressions, the fascinating ancient civilisations, their artefacts, and amazing architectural monuments, along with how they have been preserved, as well as the contentious history surrounding the museum's entitlement to acquire these valuable vestiges, was quite remarkable.

What impression did it make on you?My impression of the magnificent architectural recreation of the amazingly vibrant colours of the Ishtar Gate of Babylon was stunning. I was amazed and enthralled by the culture and history told through the cracked glazed tiles and murals depicting the society's myths, deities, and beliefs.

What was the best moment of the trip?
The highlight of the trip was finding weird items at gift shops.