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Spreading our pupils across the surface of the globe

At St. Cretien’s College, we organise a great deal of extra-curricular trips and activities, which take place during the holidays or on extended weekends.

Here is a selection of some of the very best amongst our flagship trips

Please be aware they may not happen next year, due to Health and Safety issues, instead of which we will all go to the cinema at Christmas

French Exchange, Thillery-la-Crécie - Mr. R. Pompomery, Head of French


St. Cretien’s French Department has run over seventeen years of successful exchange visits to the Lycée Galtière secondary school in the north of France. Along with our opposite teachers over the Channel, led by the able Mme. Lamartine, our pupils are always matched with wonderful families, and paired with partners sharing identical interests and passions. The French pupils host our pupils first, and we are always treated to visits to the local theme park, Cheeselande, as well as a number of WWII sites, and V2 launchpads, along with an excursion to Lille, including a trip down the sewers, and, to top it all, a snail-tasting event. The French pupils then come over to us for four-and-a-half weeks.


We find that this is a most enriching and rewarding experience for our pupils, especially those who are more resistant to learning the beauties of the French language! In seventeen years of running the French Exchange, I have not once heard a single complaint, except that it goes too quickly.

German Exchange, Salbestadt - Mr. G. Fraughter, Head of German


There’s no point denying that this trip is not for the faint-hearted. They come out here, get landed with families they don’t know, end up not liking them, and spend every night crying themselves to sleep. Those who do make it into school each morning find themselves in lessons for days on end, where they don’t understand a word, and if they could they’d be shocked at how little they have actually been taught at home. They then look forward to going back to their host families, only to get given sauerkraut again.


When it comes to trips out, it generally involves visits to some über-German towns, full of cobbles and pitched roofs, or a terribly sad pilgrimage to a WWII site of historical importance.


As for the staff, we traipse around the whole lot trying to remember what we told last year’s group, and waiting for the chance to disappear and find a beer. All in all, a very fine trip, if you like that sort of thing.

Forthcoming trips:      April 2013  -  Syria, to visit the ruins at Palmyra

May 2013  -  Iran, to visit the ancient city of Isfahan

July 2013  -  North Korea

Duke of Edinburgh, Dead Marshes, Mordor, Middle Earth - Mr. P. Powte


This ever-popular activity is central to St. Cretien’s ethos as a school; that without pushing our pupils’ boundaries, they will never find out what they are capable of, and in an increasingly competitive world, it is crucial to help our future generations see their potential.


This trip represents the DofE Bronze Award, and regrettably, we have very little take-up for the Silver or Gold levels. The expedition can take anything between three days and five weeks, depending on how effectively the participants work together to achieve their ends. They are expected, by the end of their Bronze level training, to be be able to navigate their way across a landscape using a 1:25,000 OS Map, set up a tent (we have both two- and three-man tents), and cook themselves a basic pasta/rice meal. The staff brief them well beforehand in matters concerning Health and Safety, and give them plenty of advice about surviving in the terrain, based on years of experience, before repairing to a hotel in Minas Tirith.

Expedition to Afghanistan - Mr. T. Adonals


As an ongoing part of our school’s CCF expeditionary programme, this has proven, over the past five years, to be a popular trip for our young cadets. We normally take two minibuses over on the ferry to Ostend, and reach Kandahar after a good few days’ push. We spend a number of days on the UK’s main military base here, popping out in the evenings to sample some of the typical delights in the Old Town.


From here, we travel via Herat to the capital, Kabul, which the children usually enjoy for being just a bit calmer than the west of the country. Followed by a couple of day-trips out to Jalalabad and the Hindu Kush, meeting locals, as well as always bumping into a few Old Cretians now fighting out here!


Getting back has generally been easier, as we have each time ended up being airlifted out of the region and taken directly back to Cyprus, then on to an airbase in the West Country. Next trip planned for May!

Libya, Spring 2011 - Dr. F. Rompant


As the teacher running a lunchtime club to learn a little bit of basic Arabic, it is always inspiring for me to see the lengths this group of young enthusiasts goes to, in order to get a taste of the real culture. Last year it was Egypt, this year Libya. This photo shows the camp in the western hills, where we spent a hairy few weeks, amongst a group of lovely Saharan tribesmen, who were planning some sort of nomadic move to Tripoli.


These types of trip always push our pupils so much, opening their eyes to all sorts of new experiences, and making them aware of how life is, out here in desert lands, where nothing ever happens. The children benefit hugely from sharing the locals’ tea, sampling their food, trying on their robes and helmets, holding their rifles and feeling how heavy the rounds of ammunition are, over their shoulders. In so many ways, these trips totally shake them out of their sheltered, protected worlds.