Trips & Visits
At St. Columba’s, we believe in providing an exceptional education that goes beyond the classroom, and that’s why our range of trips and visits is truly extraordinary! The College organises over one hundred trips every year, locally, nationally and internationally.
Prep
Each year group enjoys a variety of trips, visits and workshops to enliven their learning. From Reception’s woodland visit involving encounters with the Highway Rat to opportunities for the Prep School Council to visit Parliament, we offer enrichment and reinforcement of the curriculum by seeking out high quality and relevant input from outside sources.
The pupils experience theatre, art galleries, the Science Museum and a day’s Shakespeare workshop among a host of other events. The skills they gain are then brought back to the classroom where the inspiration of new ideas can be seen in enhanced learning and a spirit of discovery.
Within the Prep, we make use of our grounds and in-house expertise to offer Forest Learning in the Lower Prep and Life Skills for pupils in the Upper Prep. There are numerous clubs and extra activities after school, at lunchtimes and in the holidays: pupils pass their Cycling Proficiency, represent the Prep on sports tours and are offered languages, music groups, art, drama and a host of experiences, often learning alongside their teachers as they extend their interests and understanding. Older pupils use their French at the Christmas market in Lille, while the younger pupils use their singing skills to bring joy at the local old people’s home in St Albans.
I loved going to the Model Village. I learned that in the olden days they made their houses in different ways.
An important part of life in the Upper Prep is our programme of residential trips – France, Suffolk and Outward Bound in the Lake District. These are the experiences where pupils learn about themselves, where they grow and flourish in an atmosphere of challenge and create lasting memories.
Always supported by kindness and care, the children stretch themselves and experience the pride of learning something new, overcoming fear and sharing the camaraderie of friends. This is the essence of adventurous learning, when pupils sleep out under the stars, encourage each other as they abseil down cliffs, hold hands and leap into icy waters and begin to forge their own relationship with the world around them.
Senior & Sixth Form
In addition to our trips, within the school calendar, there are also four EECA Days (Extended Extra-Curricular Activities) every year, when the timetable is collapsed, and year groups are taken to different cultural, physical or academic activities to broaden their educational understanding. All departments work collaboratively to provide exciting educational visits on EECA Days, whether that is a visit to a Hindu temple or Warwick castle.
There are a wide range of academic trips taking place at weekends and in holidays. These range from Art trips to Amsterdam to History trips to Berlin. The ‘Stretch & Challenge’ trips have bespoke venues which are the culmination of several months of preparation work, such as CERN in Geneva. There are cultural trips like the RE visit to Rome or the Latin trip to Pompeii. The longer national and international trips usually take place during the two-week October half-term, Easter holidays and summer. These range from the new Student Mission trip with our American sister schools in New Orleans or New England, to language trips to Rouen and Oviedo.
The College is also proud of the structured programme of sports and outdoor pursuits it offers across all years. This begins in Form 1 with a weekend trip to the Skern Lodge activity centre in Devon, and is followed by a PGL trip to France in Form 2 or 3. Forms 3 and 4 take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the CCF and Bronze DofE, while the oldest students have the chance to participate in the Gold DofE Award Scheme and to travel to the ultimate formation trips in the USA and Zambia.
There are a significant number of sports tours and ski trips to complete the programme, which have an international dimension.
Senior
Year 7/Form 1
EECA Days – Warwick Castle (History), Jewish Museum/Synagogue (RE), Verulamium Roman Sites (Latin)
Library: Kids’ Lit Quiz
Bayfordbury Observatory (Physics)
Flame Conference (RE)
Exchange Visit to Lyon (French)
St Albans Abbey (History)
Skern Lodge Devon
Year 8/Form 2
EECA Day: Hindu Temple (RE), Harry Potter Scriptwriting (English), KEW Gardens (Georgraphy), Northern France or Whipsnade
CCF Field Weekends & Summer Camp
Library: Kids’ Lit Quiz
Bayfordbury Observatory (Physics)
Flame Conference (RE)
Ski Trip
Stretch & Challenge: Florence/Geneva
Exchange Visit to Lyon (French)
Adventure activities
Year 9/Form 3
CCF Field Weekends
Basketball Tour
Bayfordbury Observatory (Physics) Top of Bench competition (Chemistry) Flame Conference (RE)
Ski Trip
Oviedo (Spanish)
Stretch & Challenge: Florence/Geneva WWl Battlefields (History)
EECA Day: Velodrome/White Water CCF Summer Camp, Henry Moore Foundation (Art) Adventure activities France
Year 10/Form 4
CCF Field Weekends/Summer Camp
Basketball Tour
Rome (RE)
USA House Exchange
Iceland/Azores (Geography)
Amsterdam (Art)
Bristol (Art)
Bayfordbury Observatory (Physics)
Top of Bench Competition (chemistry)
Berlin (History)
Rouen Language Immersion (French)
Flame Conference (RE)
Ski Trip
Oviedo Language Immersion (Spanish)
Stretch & Challenge: Florence/Geneva
DofE Bronze Expeditions
STEM Big Bang Fair
Paintballing
Henry Moore Foundation (Art)
Year 11/Form 5
CCF Field Weekends/Summer Camp
Basketball Tour
Pompeii (Latin, Ancient History)
Rome (RE)
USA House Exchange
Iceland/Azores (Geography)
Amsterdam (Art)
Bristol (Art)
Senior Maths Challenge
Top of Bench Competition (Chemistry)
Berlin (History)
New York & Washington DC (History & Politics)
Rouen Language Immersion (French)
Flame Conference (RE)
Various A Level Taster Destinations
Ski Trip
Henry Moore Foundation (Art)
Sixth Form
DofE Gold Qualifying Expedition U6
EECA Day: L6 Retreat (RE)
EECA Day: U6 Parliament & London Museums
CCF Field Weekends
Iceland / Azores (Geography)
Pompeii (Latin, Ancient History)
Amsterdam (Art)
Bristol (Art)
USA House Exchange
Senior Maths Challenge
A Level Conference (RE)
Sixth Form Social (Curry Night, Boat Trip)
Bayfordbury Observatory (Physics)
Biology: A Level Conference
New York & Washington DC (History & Politics)
Public Speaking Competition
Flame Conference (RE)
Model United Nations (Politics)
UCAS Higher Education Exhib (L6)
Ski Trip
DofE Gold Practice Expedition (L6)
Upper Sixth Leavers Dinner
Cambridge University Open Day
Geography A Level Fieldtrip (L6)
EECA Day: L6 Go Ape
CCF Summer Camp
Project Respond Zambia (L6)
