Oct
18
On Monday 6th October we arrived in Zeebrugge and took the coach transfer to Bruges station to spend the day there before going onto Terneuzen. Fortunately the weather was beautiful which only helped to enhance the beauty of the city. Our day in Bruges turned into probably one of the most dramatic of the whole visit with lost jackets (cough), almost lost passports (mine), lost luggage locker tickets (groan) and striking public workers in Belgium … but we survived and discovered what a beautiful city Bruges is.
We spent the morning discovering Bruges for ourselves, finding the lovely fountain a ‘t Zand and also discovering Pizza Hut (shaking of head from teachers). After lunch (not at Pizza Hut) we were net by staff and pupils from a school in Bruges who used us to practise their English. We were guided round the city in small groups, seeing places such as the place where the medival relic of Christ’s Blood can be found, the canals and many art galleries. We all met back up at ‘t Zand, got our luggage back from the station and were taken by coach to Terneuzen.
A thoroughly enjoyable day!
Oct
17
The return visit
October 17, 2008 | Tagged journey, Terneuzen | Leave a Comment
Well, we;ve been back a week now and I feel it’s time to reflect and write about our expoits in the Netherlands.
On Sunday 5th October 2008, 15 pupils from Ian Ramsey and 2 staff (myself and Mr. Jones, Head of Geography) set off for Terneuzen in the Netherlands to complete the first ever cycle of Ian Ramsey’s History project with the Zeldenrust Steelantcollege.
We left Stockton at 2.00pm for Hull to leave on the 7.00pm ferry to Zeebrugge. Those of you who had see Mrs. Butterfield in the week previous to the trip will know that I was not relishing the idea of 12 hours on a ferry!!
Well, we got there and finally got onto the ferry, after negotiating long queues and seeing the Humber Bridge (for th first time for some of us!) We travelled on the “Pride of York” and it was very pleasant. We had a civilised meal and then got into some serious shopping. Behaviour was exemplary and everyone went to bed at the time specified. It must be said that, by the time we went to bed we had left the British costline behind and things were getting a bit rocky! Mrs. Butterfield was not happy to find that her chair kept moving slightly as the ferry tipped!! Anyway, all slept well and we treated ourselves to a full English breakfast the next morning and arrived in Zeebrugge on time at 9.00am.
A successful crossing all round – well done to the captain of the Pride of York!
Oct
11
World War 1 Project
October 11, 2008 | Tagged Netherlands, WW1 | Leave a Comment
We returned to Stockton yesterday morning after a really successful week. Once I get photos from Mr. Jones (He took hundreds!!!) I will blog about the activities that we did during our week in the Netherlands.
Aug
13
Don’t panic!
August 13, 2008 | Tagged Change | Leave a Comment
If you’re expecting to find “Our Victorian Adventure” here, don’t worry, you’ve found it!
I decided that since our project in the Netherlands would not be based around the Victorian era it would be better to change things a bit to make it about both projects. I thought this new look would be a little more versatile too.
It’s still the same project, the same schools and the same pupils.
Enjoy…
May
2
A selection of photographs
May 2, 2008 | Tagged photos, Project | Leave a Comment
After a hectic week of GCSE Speaking Exams, I have finally managed to upload all of the photos I feel I can to flickr. You can see them all much bigger than they are in the sidebar by following this link: Dutch Project (I couldn’t put all of them on here but you can see many more here on the Zeldenrust Steelant College’s website)
In addition, I’ve been learning to use a new video-making tool this week called Animoto, so I put together this collection of photos with some music that I liked on the Animoto site. I hope that you enjoy it (It’s also on YouTube if you want to see a full screen version here).
Apr
29
Wednesday day approached and everyone felt sad that the day had come when we had to say goodbye.
However, first of all there were the projects to finish. Once all of the projects were finished (and very ompressive they were too) they were printed out and also copied on to Disc so that everyone could have a copy of the work.
After lunch the coach arrived at Ian Ramsey and our Dutch friends left us to go to Durham and then on to Hull for the boat home. There were many tears and everyone promised to keep in touch.
We are currently planning the return visit, hopefully in October. I will keep this blog updated to keep everyone involved up to date with our progress.
Apr
29
Tuesday Evening Social!
April 29, 2008 | Tagged Project, Social | Leave a Comment
Tuesday evening arrived and suddenly we realised that it was it was our last evening together. Mr. Jone made a fabulous video – I will put a shorter version of if on this blog as soon as I have time to!
Thank you again to all of the wonderful parents who brought along food for the event. There was so much of it! I was surprised that there was very little of it left by the end of the evening!
It was really nice to be able to chat with parents about how the project had gone and for parents to have a look at the “works in progress” that were available. The Dutch teachers also enjoyed being able to meet the parents of the pupils who were taking part.
A very pleasant was enjoyed by all
Apr
26
Preston Hall Museum
April 26, 2008 | Tagged PrestonPark, Project, Work | Leave a Comment
In the afternoon, Mrs. Butterfield and Mr. Jones took the group to Preston Park, in order to visit Preston Hall Museum, in particular the Victorian Street. Pupils were treated to a lovely description about how the water pumps were used un Victorian Times and the spread of Cholera (nice). We were also lucky enough to see the print shop in action and learning some interesting facts about printing in the Victoian Era. All drew a plan of the street and made nots of the types of shops there and the prices of the items they sold. The feature of the street that created most interest, however, was the Victorian Public Loos!
In addition we were able to go into the toy museum and even play a game of giant snakes and ladders! There was just time for a quick visit to the museum shop (but not time for an ice cream, unfortunately!)
Apr
26
Our work begins
April 26, 2008 | Tagged LRC, Project, Work | Leave a Comment
Today, Mrs. Butterfield and Mr. (Geography) Armstrong headed to the LRC for a morning of work on projects. Our Dutch teachers had bought some fantastic resources with them and also had a webquest about the Life of Charles Dickens on the Zeldenrust Steelantcollege’s VLE to use to help everyone. There were several tasks to complete, inlcuding an interview with Charles Dickens, a “Day in the Life” of a Victorian person, comparing the lives of the rich and poor in Victorian times, living conditions and working conditions. All 39 pupils spend the morning working very hard in the LRC and had some lovley work to let parents look at in the evening.
At 12.15 pm, a new experience for our Dutch friends…school dinners!!!
What did you think of them? Let us know!!!
Apr
23
Bowling
April 23, 2008 | Tagged , Bowling, Monday | Leave a Comment
On Monday evening we all went bowling at Teesside Park. After watching some “dodgy characters” leave we all happily went in to bowl, preparing for our 2 games by handing over one shoe and being presented with some stylish blowling shoes.
We were able to spread ourselves over 7 lanes and even Mrs. Butterfield got to play against Bart, Hilde, and Jessica. Balls of the correct weight with the right-sized finger holes were chosen and the game was on…
Unfortunately Mrs. Butterfield hadn’t done enough practice on the Nintendo Wii at home (and didn’t have the barriers up either) so was very poor in the first game. However, having hustled her opponents into letting her have the barriers up in the second game, she came from behind, scoring a double strike to take the second game with ease 
P
I liked Hannah and Louise’s teams “two balls at time” method best, however I did notice that it didn’t help knock anymore pins down S
I think this event was a great success (even if the blowling shoes did make my feet a little smelly!)
