Bright and early on Friday morning, 25 Year 7 girls and 3 members of staff set off on the Biology and History trip to Jersey. Although the weather was not as promising as last year, the girls were all in high spirits and the journey to the island was thankfully event free.
Once again our base for the weekend was the hostel at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Park where we were greeted warmly by Josh, the hostel manager. The hostel is right next to the Wildlife Park, so once the girls had settled in and had their introduction, they were put to work making porridge treats for the macaques. Having helped the keeper feed these to the animals, the girls then disappeared off round the Park on a scavenger hunt and they were able to see the huge variety of animals that Durrell looks after.
While at Durrell each group was given a primate to study over the course of the weekend, focusing on their behaviour and how they interacted with the rest of the animals within their group. We were also fortunate enough to be granted out-of-hours access to the Park, so the girls could complete their observations and see how the animals’ behaviour changed depending on the number of visitors as well. The girls then presented their findings to some of the Durrell staff and each other on the Monday morning, confidently answering all the questions put to them.
As well as spending time at the Park and practising for Badminton’s Got Talent on the Sunday night, we also took the opportunity to visit some of the historical sites in Jersey including the War Tunnels and Mont Orgueil, a medieval castle on the North of the Island. The War Tunnels were fantastic and the girls found them very interesting. It was particularly poignant this year as it was the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Channel Islands from Nazi occupation during the 2nd World War.
Of course we could not visit Jersey without visiting a beach or two and sampling some of their famous ice cream. Although slightly chillier than last year, the girls were still up for a paddle in the sea and a game of piggy in the middle with Mrs Tear and Miss Goldsack, although at 10 against 2 the odds were rather stacked against the staff (well that’s our excuse for losing anyway!).
The girls thoroughly enjoyed the trip and learnt a lot and we look forward to running it again next year!
Miss Goldsack
