Senior School

Over half term, 29 pupils and 4 staff spent 5 unforgettable days in a land of fire and ice. Our adventure began, as soon as we landed, at the Bridge between the Continents on the Reykjanes Peninsula, where we stood astride the Eurasian and North American plates as they slowly drift apart. The next day, at Þingvellir National Park, we saw the same rift on a grander scale, in the very place where Iceland's first parliament met in 930. We watched Strokkur erupt every few minutes at the Geysir geothermal area, admired the thunder, spray and rainbows of Gullfoss, and then went underground into the Raufarhólshellir lava tunnel, formed over 5,000 years ago. Day 3 took us along the south coast, past the waterfalls of Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss, where we saw the falls from different angles, both above and behind! We then travelled to the black sand and basalt columns of Reynisfjara, where the power of the Atlantic was plain to see. In the afternoon, pupils strapped on crampons and helmets and walked on Sólheimajökull glacier. Standing on ice that has been there for centuries, and seeing for ourselves how quickly it is retreating, made climate change feel personal in a way no textbook can. That night, we saw the northern lights! Ribbons of green light danced overhead, as the entire hotel descended into the car park to watch. It is something none of us will ever forget. On our last full day, the Lava Centre explained the forces behind everything we had seen, and we then visited the steaming fumaroles and bubbling mud pools of Hveradalir. After exploring Reykjavík, we watched molten lava flow at the Lava Show and soared over the whole country at FlyOver Iceland, which left us all wanting to come back. On our final morning, we stood beside the still-steaming lava fields of Nátthagi, formed by the recent Fagradalsfjall eruptions, before a well-earned soak in the Blue Lagoon! None of it would have been the same without our amazing guide, Karen. Her knowledge was extraordinary and her passion for Iceland was infectious. She answered every question, however many we asked, and made every landscape feel like a story we were part of.

Oscar PW, and Marcus R, competed as part of the East Anglia team at the British Orienteering Junior East Anglia came 7th overall, a fantastic achievement! Here is what Oscar and Marcus said about the event; "This was my first time competing for East Anglia, and I was running up an age category against runners two years older than me. I found the location for the first day quite challenging as there was very little to navigate by in places, which threw me off on some of the controls. I placed in the upper middle of the pack, which was a good result, although I felt I could have done better on another day. The venue for the relays on the second day felt easier to me, and I found the course less challenging. The runner before me in my team had put us in about 18th place, and I think I made a small improvement, taking us to 17th, and our final runner took us to 16th. Across the whole event, EAJS came 7th out of all the teams there, which was a great result considering we were one of the teams with the fewest runners." - Oscar "On the whole it was a very successful weekend for myself and east Anglia. with my individual performance I broke expectations as I was running up an age class, managing to earn an impressive 12th place. As east Anglia were the hosts, we had a good number of runners and a large number of relay teams. I ran the first leg for my team finishing 3 minutes behind the leader meaning we were right at the front of the race after my leg. Overall east Anglia once again performed better than predicted finishing 7th as a team, a very impressive weekend." - Marcus