CARPE Trip to Athens, Greece

The CARPE (Classics at the Academy Running in Partnership with Eton) Programme culminated this term with 28 students taking part in a highly memorable 5 day trip to Athens from 19-23 June, (fortunately just before the Cerberus heatwave struck!) This included guided trips to the Acropolis and Acropolis Museum, Delphi, the ancient palace at Mycenae and the Unesco World Heritage site of Epidaurus, with its perfectly preserved Greek theatre, as well as the Panathenaic Stadium complete with staff/student sprint races!

Student highlights included the evening activities of watching the sunset over Athens from the Areopagus, and a Greek film at the outdoor cinema Thision, with incredible views of the Acropolis as night fell. A substantial amount of ice cream was consumed in between activities and students were able to fully develop their research for their individually chosen Individual Project Qualification (iPQ) questions, as they saw these ancient sites and treasures for themselves.

It was wonderful to see not only academic knowledge growing over the week, but also social confidence and positive peer relations blossoming.

All students then presented their iPQs in the week of 3 July. These iPQs are currently being externally moderated. The panel were extremely impressed with the range of questions that students had researched and the knowledge they had gained in doing so, as well as the confidence and skills they demonstrated when presenting.

On 10 July, there was a Celebration Evening at Eton College, with students presenting about the trip and on their iPQs in the prestigious setting of Upper School, to parents, carers, governors and Academy staff. After this, we all very much enjoyed a wonderful Greek Buffet dinner. We are extremely grateful to our donor and to Eton College’s Partnership project for enabling this unique programme and trip to go ahead. As Ahmed (Y10) said, “You have created memories that will without a doubt remain in our hearts forever”.