Bishop Wordsworth's Church of England Grammar School's Music Tour to Ypres

We have a busy choir that performs regularly in school and the local community. We wanted to give them the opportunity to travel, have a dedicated week of rehearsals and performances to bond even more as a musical ensemble and to create memories that will last a lifetime. 

This tour offered great value for money for the students and offered the opportunity to sing at the Menin Gate. 

We sang at the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate, gave a concert for a retirement community and performed at a church in northern Belgium. The church regularly welcomes touring ensembles and the audience was very responsive and appreciative. 

After discussions with our Tour Coordinator, Sam, we felt these three venues offered the right opportunities for our choir in the time frame of the tour. 

The Menin Gate service and the last night party will be the lasting memories of our tour. Having the hotel to ourselves was an incredible plus on this tour too. 

I'd received quotes from Halsbury before at a previous school but the trip was cancelled because of Covid. When I moved school, the department was using another provider, but the last tour wasn't great, so I opened conversations with Alison (our Tour Adviser) at the Music Teachers' Association Conference as I'd heard good things from other music teachers about their experience with Halsbury. 

Sam was very quick to reply to emails and phone calls. The organisation was excellent and the team were particularly helpful when we had pupils drop out and then new ones apply to come. The paperwork and costings were all reworked very quickly. 

Absolutely, yes.