The history department took thirty-one year 11 GCSE students to London for two days in November to support the GCSE work they do in class. Highlights of their visit included a trip to watch the musical Cabaret in the West End and a guided tour at the Tower of London.
As well as being an unforgettable cultural experience, each element of the two-day visit tied in with a particular unit of the GCSE course that the students are studying.
Cabaret
Students visited the Playhouse Theatre in the West End to watch a multi-award-winning production of the musical Cabaret. The musical is set in Berlin in 1929–30, when the Nazis were on the rise in Germany, and the theatre itself has been transformed into the Kit Kat Club.
The Queen’s House and National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
Students toured the Queen’s House gallery of Elizabethan portraits, including the iconic ‘Armada Portrait’ of Elizabeth I, which commemorates the failed invasion of England by the Spanish Armada in 1588, the most famous conflict of her reign. The Tudor and Stuart Seafarers exhibition enabled students to explore how England became a successful maritime nation in the early modern age.
The Tower of London
Students were given a guided tour of the grounds of this famous London landmark and examined physical and documentary evidence relating to its role in events during the reign of Elizabeth I.
Aoife said: “It was a really intriguing and thought-provoking two days. It will help me with my GCSE because it will give me something to think back to, like the Armada Portrait, helping me understand Elizabeth’s control of England and the victory over Spain.”
Georgia said: “My favourite part of the trip was Cabaret. It was mind-blowing. It will definitely help me understand the rise of the Nazis and the effect this had on ordinary Germans. I have never been to a theatre experience like it.”
