On 11th June, 27 very excited Year 8 girls (wearing bright purple hoodies) left Calne to go to the Isle of Wight. The sun shone all week and the girls took part in lots of interesting activities.
They visited a Roman Villa, learning all about the Roman way of life, beautiful mosaics depicting the Myths and Legends, and they dressed up as centurions and citizens and learnt how hard life was in the Roman Army.
The girls walked along the coast line, discovering what the island was like in the times of the dinosaurs and how coastal erosion has affected the coast line. They searched for fossils and were told about a new species of dinosaur that was found on the Island and were then able to see a full-size replica of it.
The girls also visited a self-sustaining farm where they learnt all about renewable energy sources, how a biomass generator can produce gas from crops grown on the farm and how the farm has had to diversify from dairy farming to tourism to remain profitable.
One of the highlights for the girls was walking in Queen Victoria’s footsteps in the beautiful Osborne House, where they met the formidable 'Mrs Pilkington' who put the girls through their paces as kitchen maids. They learnt how to make beds, set a proper table setting, polish silver and how to grind coffee and sugar for Queen Victoria’s morning breakfast. There was also time to have lots of fun with games on the beach, ten-pin bowling, Laser tag and parachute games. The girls returned, exhausted, but with lots of smiley faces.