Back in April a group of 25 students excitedly and anxiously boarded a coach for an overnight trip to London with their 2 Business Studies and ICT teachers, waving goodbye to their parents, looking forward to the long day ahead.  After a brief stop at a services and wolfing down McDonalds quicker than lightning to get back on the coach on time we arrived in London in record time.

Our first stop was a guided tour of the BBC Television Centre where students got a glimpse of Natasha Kaplinsky, sat in the same dressing room as Lady Gaga and got to explore an old Blue Peter set.  Everybody was fascinated by being surrounded by familiar things that we see on TV in an unfamiliar setting.  Then the opportunity to take part in our own bit of TV making with the News, meets the Weakest Link extravaganza!  Of course Shirebrook won the challenge!

After this we were whisked away to the Hard Rock Cafe were we got to eat the best burgers in the world, have a laugh and joke and the students were all taken with the serving staff and enjoyed being immersed in Rock history.

Then in a blink of an eye we were done and off to the theatre!  Students got a little time to explore the shops and the area surrounding the theatres at the West End and thoroughly enjoyed that bit of freedom to find things for themselves.  Very tired but excited, we all took our seats to watch the evening’s performance of Wicked at the Apollo Theatre.  It went above and beyond our expectations and we were all blown away by the set, the singing, dancing and storyline.

After a very long day we finally arrived at the hotel and had to endure a long check-in process that although annoying at the time added to the adventure of the whole trip.  Students were ushered into rooms and bed, and after several walks up and down the corridor to check everyone was in for the night, our weary heads hit the pillow for a much needed and deserved good night’s sleep.

A quick shower, cooked breakfast, room tidy and check we were out the door ready to continue on our London adventure!  We arrived at Wembley Stadium and were all in awe of the size and impressiveness of the structure.  Our guided tour was very interesting and informative as was meeting Dennis the Menace and having a picture taken with the FA Cup.  The tour of the dressing rooms was a particular highlight, surrounded by shirts worn by many footballing legends.

An exciting trip to McDonalds followed as it was closed to the public for renovation.  The students found it very funny to watch their teachers walk through the drive through and order £90 worth of food for 27 people!

Our trip ended sooner than we would have liked with a reminder of how busy a city.  Traffic was not on our side so we missed out on our visit to the Bank of England.  However we didn’t let that get us down and got to see a lot of the Olympic village and facilities on our drive.

We all returned home tired and exhilarated after a fun and exciting trip.  With many students declaring it ‘the best ever’ we will definitely be doing something again next year!