Blinded by the lights of New York City, this was our experience: We arrived at school bright and early. I watched my colleagues get ready for their lessons whilst I drank my coffee in peace. Mrs Price and I did a few checks, Mr Pepper helped with the luggage and Mr Oakley decided to look for his coffee mug which he didn’t actually lose. but was essentially behind him the entire time. On the coach, Mrs Ward grabbed the microphone and our journey began.

I’ll not bore you with the details of the airport. I’m not a great flyer but the students were and to our surprise we were served a lunch which we did not expect! United Airlines really did provide a fantastic service and we were ecstatic.

Once we arrived in Newark (NJ), we went through passport control and we were on our way. Thanks to a 6 hour time difference we still had the entire evening to explore. Our guide to the hotel had informed us that her grandfather was part of the team that built the Empire State Building.

Luggage in rooms, coats on and off we went to Times Square. A barrage of screens, photographers, tourists, food vendors…. I could go on. Some of our students immediately tried out the food options. A particular favourite? Raising Cane’s. More on that later. We returned to the hotel, told the kids what the plan was and by some miracle: all students arrived at the specified time of 9.00 am the next day. We started our day at Macey’s. If you don’t know Macey’s (like I didn’t!) it is a huge department store. 40% off on many of the brands. Naturally, I forgot the sales tax but some of the students did get some good stuff. Betty and Anneka enthusiastically showed me their loot.

Day 1 is a little bit of a blur considering how much we had actually done. Mrs Price told me to look for a squirrel on a bench and I actually found one? Mrs Ward did the best thing and took us on a river cruise all around New York City. Did you also know that there’s a Pepsi sign over which there was a legal case? Though, going back to the river cruise, I feel it is much more important to mention that we had a fantastic view of the Statue of Liberty. They served hot dogs, nachos and fizzy drinks and the students and I took full advantage of this offer.

We had the privilege of seeing Ground Zero and visiting the museum attached to it. A solemn reminder of the tragic story of 9/11 but also a valiant example of how the phoenix that is New York City rose from the ashes. Isaac, Nnamdi and Samir all spoke to one of the guards at the memorial. Her stories were intense and she was so patient with their questions. We also took a trip up the new World Trade Centre. A very nervous Mr Zimmermann (heights are not for me!) had to endure the heights. Although the view was breathtaking – I was glad to be on solid ground once more.

I could say much more about the NYC but we also went to Washington D.C. We had a tour of the capitol building. I had no idea that every U.S. State can submit a statue. It was also news to me how far apart the Washington Monument, the White House and the Lincoln Memorial are. In my head they were close because of the pictures I’d seen when in reality it’s quite a trek. It was well worth it to see a marble Abraham Lincoln presiding over the democratic rights of the Americans. The students went up the Washington Memorial but Mr Zimmermann had had enough of the heights and waited on the ground.

To summarise, we’ve had an amazing trip and it was pure pleasure to see the students so actively engaged and enjoying every minute of their trip.

A final thank you to Mrs Ward who was our trip leader extraordinaire.'

Mr M Zimmermann