T
HETFORD
GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Bridge Street, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 3AF
Telephone: 01842 752840 Fax: 01842 750220
Headmaster: G J Price MA (Oxon)
January 23rd 2015
Dear Parents and Students,
Year 9 visit to the Somme and Ypres Battlefields 1st – 3rd October 2015
As you may be aware the History Department has run in the past an extremely successful trip for
Year 9 relating to the Battlefields of World War One. Year 9 may seem like a long way off but I
would like to offer your child the possibility of participating in our next Battlefields visit in
October 2015.
The trip will run from Thursday 1st October to Saturday 3rd October 2015. We will visit many
fascinating and famous places that tell the story of both the Battle of the Somme and the Battle
of Ypres. These include the trenches at Newfoundland Park and memorials such as Tyne Cot, the
Menin Gate, and Thiepval. This visit will add a vital dimension to our work in History lessons
about the First World War, particularly what life was like in the trenches on the Western Front
and whether Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig can be considered to be the ‘Butcher of the Somme’.
It will be especially poignant to visit the battlefields of Ypres which will be a new dimension to
the TGS Battlefields visit. Year 9 will also be studying First World War poetry during their English
lessons, so this trip will also give the students an extraordinary opportunity to appreciate these
works in their original context.
This is an extremely interesting and moving trip, which gives students a chance to experience the
sites and atmosphere of the battlefields as well as the museums associated with the area. One of
the most important elements of the trip will be to locate the graves of fallen TGS Old Boys as
well as members of Year 9 own families. If you know that a member of your own family is buried
in one of the Commonwealth War Grave cemeteries in the area we are visiting or is
commemorated at Thiepval or the Menin Gate, please let me know.
We will be travelling by coach, via Eurotunnel and staying at the Poppies d’Albert International
School Hotel (www.poppiesalbert.com) in the town of Albert, right in the centre of the
battlefields area. In Belgium, we will be staying in the Poppies Menin Gate Hotel
(www.thepoppies.be/ ) right in the heart of Ypres. The hotels are purpose built for this kind of
school trip.
The cost for the trip will be £225. The cost shall include accommodation, coach transport and
meals. Students may also wish to bring a small amount of spending money for souvenirs.
This visit has always been a very popular one and our students have found the experience both
interesting and deeply moving. There is a place available for all students who will be in Year 9 in
October 2015. I would encourage all students to participate in this trip if possible as it is a moving
and rewarding experience that, beyond its historical value, often forms a significant landmark in
students’ lives.
If you wish your son/daughter to go on the visit, please will you,
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Complete the form below, including your child’s passport number and EHIC number.
Enclose cash or cheque for the deposit amount of £50 or the full amount of £225 (cheques
made payable to ‘Thetford Grammar School’).
Complete the attached medical and consent form.
Registered Charity No: 311263
They will all need to be returned to the School Office by Wednesday 25th February 2015 at the
latest.
Please note that if you are paying the deposit amount in the first instance, then final
payment for the whole amount must be made by Friday 12th June 2015.
Please do contact me at the school or by email ( ejb@thetgram.norfolk.sch.uk) if you have any
questions.
I look forward to your reply.
Yours sincerely
Emma Bailey
Head of History
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To be returned to the School Office by Wednesday 25th February 2015 at the latest.
Year 9 visit to the Somme Battlefields 1st – 3rd October 2015
____________________________________ (name of child) Form 8 ___
would like to join the Battlefields trip 1st – 3rd October 2015
I enclose:
 Full payment of £225

a £50 deposit now (with the full amount to be paid by Friday 12th June 2015)
Passport Number ___________________
Passport Expiry Date_________________
EHIC Number _______________________
Medical and consent form enclosed.
Signed ___________________________________ Date _____________________
Registered Charity No: 311263