Half term provided a great opportunity for some of our boys to enjoy school trips, and for 53 boys from across all years groups studying art and RE, a residential trip to Paris was on the agenda.
Boys studying art at both GCSE and A-Level were able to experience first-hand the fantastic range of art that Paris has to offer. Trips to the Pompidou Centre, Musée D’Orsay, L’Orangerie, Louvre, Musée Rodin and the Musée Guimet provided plenty of drawing opportunities, and the boys rose to the challenge.
Upper Sixth and Fifth Form boys just starting their GCSE and A-Level exams found plenty of imagery relevant to their exam titles. And, of course, all boys on the trip made the pilgrimage to see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre with Mr Croker singling out Gericault’s Raft of the Medusa as another must-see before exploring the extensive galleries on their own.
Remove Former Daniel Hudson explained, “I think that the variety of galleries that we went to visit opened my mind to the number of ways you can create an image, and it has helped to open my eyes to different perspectives of what I draw. We were free to look at whatever we wanted, and we were not constrained to only looking at one or two pieces. The trip included so much, and it was really fun mixing with all of the different year groups. I think not only having my year on the trip helped me to get an understanding of what the older years had to produce and what to expect later in the course.”
Meanwhile, Religion and Philosophy students covered all three Abrahamic faiths over the weekend with visits to the Paris Grand Mosque, the Jewish Art and History Museum and Sainte Chappelle. The Panthéon provided plenty of philosophical discussion, with visits to the tombs of both Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire, whilst a viewing of Descartes’ skull in the Musée de L’Homme, prior to seeing the Eiffel tower sparkle at night, was a definite highlight.
Upper Sixth Former Louis Day commented, “The museums allowed me to gauge more of an insight into the history of Christianity and specifically some pieces in the Louvre helped me understand more about the enlightenment period, which is helpful for both the Ethics and Development in Christianity papers at A-Level.”
With excellent weather and glorious winter sunshine, Paris and all it has to offer did not disappoint. All boys were good humoured as they continuously (and unrelentingly!) walked between venues whilst displaying commendable behaviour. It was an enjoyable and rewarding trip all round.
