King Edward's School Witley's Trip to Futuroscope

I wanted to arrange a cultural team-building experience and end-of-year treat. Many of the pupils had not been on a residential trip before, so I wanted them to experience this; spending time with their peers, travelling to a foreign country, experiencing the culture, some of them speaking the language they are learning and not worrying about academic work for a week. 

We chose to visit Futuroscope because we have been once before and really enjoyed the trip. 

At Futuroscope itself, we had a guided tour in the morning and then pupils had free time in the park in the afternoon. We also came back into the park for the light show in the evening, which was amazing. 

We also visited an aquarium - the pupils really enjoyed looking at all the different fish and loved the pool where they could touch the fish. 

We visited a monkey sanctuary, which pupils absolutely loved, especially the feeding time. They also enjoyed the climbing frames there. 

We visited Amboise town, where we gave people free time to buy souvenirs and lunch. 

We split the group at one point, with half going to a macaron museum and the other half going to Poitiers. 

And we all visited the Parc des Mini-Chateaux, where we tasked pupils with sketching their favourite chateau and then doing some language and historical tasks. The focus of these tasks made the visit really interesting. 

We felt they were the best fit for our pupils - a mix of cultural activities and free time to let off steam and interact with the locals. 

My lasting memories of this trip will be pupils' smiles throughout the trip and their enthusiastic chatter, feeding time at the monkey sanctuary, touching the fish in the aquarium, watching pupils order French food and watching pupils playing on the grass outside the hotel. 

We have used Halsbury previously and were happy with the trip. 

Excellent. 

Yes, Rachel was very helpful and quick to respond to all requests. The organisation of the trip was excellent.