At the start of July our Year 12 Germanists spent four exciting days in Berlin, experiencing German history and culture at first hand. The tailormade and fully packed programme took them to some of the major attractions such as the Olympic stadium, the remains of the Berlin wall, the ‘Reichstag’, the TV tower and the ‘DDR’ museum, where they discovered what it was like to live in a divided city.

Sampling local food on a weekly market and visiting Madame Tussauds were also seen as one of the highlights of the trip. I was impressed by the students’ interest and curiosity and their determination to speak German at all times. My gratitude also goes to ‘Herr Google’, Olli Ranken, who helped with the navigation around Berlin.