“Grade 10 took a five-day trip to Ypres (or Ieper), Belgium to explore the country from a historical point of view. We stayed at the ‘Peace Village’ and discovered the importance of our surrounding area in World War I and trench warfare; although not every student takes History class, we all got to see the place through the eyes of historians.” – Saanika Sudeep, Grade 10
The focus of the trip was to promote interdisciplinary, conceptual understanding within MYP global contexts and have authentic locational experiences to enrich ATL skills. With this in mind, the shared statement of inquiry “Our lived and learned experiences can change our perspectives on how we prevent and respond to natural and human events and/or disasters.” was thread throughout each of the activities organized. With the team of chaperones, Mrs. Aissen, Ms. Davey, Mrs. Steinberg, Mr. Simpson, and Mr. Trimble, we were able to authentically connect English, German, Geography and History within the same contextual experiences.
“From museum visits to first hand trench experiences, we learned about the different aspects of life in the war, some very gory, but all incredibly eye-opening. The topic of many of our classes is currently – or will be soon – the many facets of World War I, so this trip remained very relevant to our school life. The main difference that I noticed between this trip and our previous, pre-COVID trips was that it did not have the same team-building focus. This proved to be a very drastic change for many of us, since we weren’t used to the onslaught of heavy information given to us on such trips.” – Saanika
“On Thursday, we took a bus tour to Hill 60 where we witnessed the reality of the event after watching the movie. This was a very emotional moment for all as we connected the storyline of the movie to the land in front of us.
For those worrying about us having such a heavily packed information trip being too hectic for us, don’t worry! On Wednesday we had a day off from learning and enjoyed ourselves with free time in “Plopsaland” Amusement Park. Not only did we get to explore Belgium, we also had a refreshing visit to a beach at the city of Dunkirk, France right after!
Overall this trip was a fascinating experience as we learned more about European history through a ‘in-person’ encounter.” – Simran Nadkarni, Grade 10
Have a look through the gallery to see a snapshot of our experiences. A huge thank you to the students for their level of maturity throughout the trip, given the sensitive nature of the trip. Also thanks to the chaperones and guides on the trip for making this such a memorable experience after a hiatus in international school trips.
Saanika Sudeep and Simran Nadkarni
Scott Simpson
MYP Geography
