The History department at Cromwell Community College is committed to providing a range of school trips that consolidate and extend students' learning of the subject. We feel that these educational visits are an essential part of the learning process, helping to engage students and allowing them to interact with 'real history' in a meaningful way. Excursions are organised for every year in school, from year 7 through to year 13.

Year 7 : In the context of students' study of medieval castles in Britain, we traditionally organise an excursion to Warwick Castle . Students walk along the battlements, spy through the arrow slits and experience the dungeon. It's an excellent opportunity for the children to interact with the living 'bricks and mortar' of history. This year we took around 120 enthusiastic students and 12 members of staff. It is a very popular trip indeed.

Year 8 : While studying Henry VIII, his break with Rome and the religious difficulties befalling England in the 16 th century, year-eight students take a trip to Hampton Court Palace in London. Here they can see Henry's private chapel, the lavishly-decorated rooms of the palace, and the ostentatious banqueting hall. This, again, is a heavily-subscribed excursion.

Year 9 : We organise a residential excursion to the First World War battlefields in the context of students' study of the war and trench conditions. This is a three-day trip in which we walk through dug-outs, examine the relics of trench war-fare and imagine what it must have been like to go 'over the top'.

Year 10 : While examining crime and punishment through time, year 10 undertake an excursion to the Galleries of Justice in Nottingham. These are housed in the old courthouse and prison in Nottingham. Students get to re-enact the trial of those people who took part in the reform riots of 1831. They also get to handle and interrogate various artefacts associated with crime and punishment.

Year 11 : Before watching the School History Scene's production of 'Hitler on Trial' , students get to meet a GCSE Chief Examiner, who shows students exactly how their GCSE answers will be marked. Indeed, students have a go at marking actual answers that students have written in their GCSE exams.

Year 12 : In Year 12 we consolidate our study of the 17 th century with a trip to the Public Records Office in Kew, London . Students have the opportunity to handle State papers and other documents from the period and to explore an environment where professional historians often work. This excursion is valuable as extra research for their A-Level projects; it also serves as an effective and enjoyable introduction to history at a higher level (for those thinking of university). It goes without saying that documents actually handled and signed by Charles I seem to spark history to life!

Year 13 : As part of the A-Level study of Russia at the time of Lenin and Stalin, we organise a residential trip to Moscow . Here, the revolution and Stalin's five-year plans are placed in a grippingly real context. We see the embalmed body of Lenin, chillingly lying in State in Red Square; we visit the Kremlin, where Soviet leaders through the 20 th century operated; we go to the Museum of the Great Patriotic War 1941-45; we also observe the imposingly-grotesque sky scrapers that Stalin had built and to which he referred as the 'Seven Sisters'. This trip will depend on whether sufficient numbers sign up.