A GROUP of exhilarated Holsworthy Community College Year 10 students stormed on to the ferry in Plymouth and travelled overnight to the glorious small town of Roscoff in France on Thursday, June 23.

The staff and students awakened on Friday morning to the news that we were leaving the EU. Whether this caused smiles or tears, everyone was excited to start the adventure!

On arrival, Jack E was made map reader and easily found his way through Roscoff to the hotel, which was next to the sea with very comfortable rooms and an amazing buffet breakfast. After that they spent a quiet, peaceful day finding our bearings, sight-seeing and relaxing in the hotel. They topped off the day with a trip to one of the local crêperies, where they were treated to a lovely evening meal. Most then tried both savoury galettes and sweet crêpes, before ordering their food in French successfully.

Saturday saw an early start and after a short bus journey, they found ourselves in Morlaix, a small historic market town not far from Roscoff where they have a large Saturday market. After a day of exploring the town (again with Jack guiding) and market using as French as much as possible, they returned to Roscoff for their evening meal. After dinner they headed to a sand court and had fun playing beach volleyball until it got dark.

On Sunday a boat trip had been organised to the Ile de Batz, a small island just 15 minutes off the Roscoff coast. There they looked around the exotic gardens, had a picnic, and then went up the 180 or so steps to the top of the lighthouse. The view was incredible as they could see for miles – even easily being able to make out the church just behind the hotel on the mainland. They then spent the rest of the day relaxing and playing football on one of the many sandy beaches before catching the ferry back to the hotel. That evening, smart dress was required for the last dinner out at a posh restaurant where a two or three course dinner was held. The nice waiter was then very patient as the staff and students ordered our meals in only French. Sam was very adventurous and had the seafood platter which included prawns, sea snails, crab and oysters.

On Monday as they prepared to leave, they did some shopping and had a last drink at a café by the harbour. They then sat outside in the sunshine on the ferry as they headed back to England.

Following the experience, staff and students all agreed that they feel more confident understanding and using French, thanks to the invaluable experiences of eating out in restaurants and sampling French culture.

Thanks were also expressed to Mr Scott for driving everyone in the minibus to Plymouth and to Mrs Vandendorpe and Jo Bray for making the trip so thoroughly enjoyable.