Read on for some diary excerpts from staff and students about their recent trip to Auvergne.
Dear Diary,
On Wednesday I woke up at 5:45 for the Year 5 volcano trip. My cat Louis was delighted with his early breakfast. I was a little apprehensive about the trip as many children in my class seemed to think we would be staying in a ‘hotel’ and I was worried they might be disappointed with the accommodation.
The journey to Auvergne went really well (no one vomited on the bus and no one got locked in the toilets at the petrol station!).
When we arrived at the centre I was very impressed with how well organised everything was. I was even more impressed by how well everyone ate their food. I was amazed at the healthy appetites of our Year 5 children.
Thursday was a fantastic day as we got to walk up Puy Vitchatel and the weather was perfect. As we walked, the children collected shiny volcanic stones and rocks that were slightly dirty. In the afternoon we took the train up to Puy de Dôme and then walked down. That evening I was called into one of the rooms to see a wonderful display of over 50 shiny, clean rocks on a bathroom shelf, with more precision than a display in the Natural History Museum.
On the last day at Vulcania, my heart was racing after experiencing a simulation of an earthquake and being attacked by a virtual snake (which sneezed in my face). Luckily I was able to relax on the bus home as the children’s behaviour on the bus was excellent.
Written by a member of staff
Dear Diary,
Wednesday 26th March – Today we left to go to Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. My favourite part of today was going on the bus, I remember everyone on the bus was extremely excited to be going to Auvergne. After a few hours we stopped for a snack, then again for lunch. After that we were on the bus for another hour and then we would be there. Everyone went into synchronised singing of Spring Chicken (thanks to our teacher, it kept us entertained) and before we knew it we were there.
Then we did some orienteering and when we finished we went for a playtime that felt like it went on forever! When we finished we went to our rooms to settle in and get ready for dinner. Half an hour later we were all in the Ganesh room playing cards and table football. After dinner we went to bed.
Written by a pupil
Dear Diary,
Thursday 27th March – We left at 9:00 to hike the Puy de Vichatel. After walking Vichatel, the year group had lunch and took the train up Puy de Dôme. My friends and I had a bet with our teacher on how long the train would take and my friend won!
When we got to the top of the Puy de Dôme, the guide told us some facts about the eruption of the volcano because it had two eruptions. This happened because half of the Puy de Dôme blew up and then grew back, but slightly bigger, so it did not look like a volcano. Then the whole year group walked down the Puy de Dôme.
When we got back it was two of the students’ birthday and we had a disco and it was really fun. After the disco we had dinner.
Finally, we went to bed at 8:45.
Written by a pupil
Dear Diary,
My favourite part of the Year 5 school trip to Auvergne was when we went up to Puy de Dôme to collect stones from the volcano and see the beautiful view. I stayed in a room with two of my friends. We had a bathroom with a shower and we all slept on bunk beds. On Thursday, two other students had a birthday party together, we had a disco and played board games, they even played one of my favourite songs! The food we had was amazing, in the mornings we had cereal with nice warm hot chocolate. The first night we got there we had bolognaise, it was really tasty.
Written by a pupil
