News Year 7 Classics Trip to Cambridge 20.04.2023

Bright and early on Wednesday, the whole of Year 7 set out on the Classics department’s annual trip to Cambridge. There they visited the Cast Gallery in the University Classics Faculty, where they had the opportunity to view around 450 copies of ancient originals, taking them on a chronological whistlestop tour of a thousand years of Greek and Roman sculptural history. The girls engaged with enthusiasm and focus, examining changes in artistic techniques, depiction of emotion, and a huge variety in subject material.

The Fitzwilliam Museum also proved a hit with groups visiting either the Antiquities Gallery – displaying a huge range of Greek and Roman artefacts, from sarcophagi to drinking vessels, and ornamental animals to funerary inscriptions – or the Islanders exhibition, which took them on a journey across ancient Crete, Cyprus, and Sardinia. The girls considered how these cultures shaped the Mediterranean world today, through their communities, myths, and art.

Grey skies in the morning opened up into a wonderfully sunny afternoon, and the girls revelled in a truly spring-like picnic along the King’s Backs. All groups took a walk around the city of Cambridge, enjoying the opportunity to see several of the university college buildings along the way and admire the architecture, and – of course – the chance to sample some of the confectionary delights on offer.

The girls were impeccably behaved throughout the day, and a rewarding and illuminating time was had by all. Many thanks to everyone who made it such an enjoyable and successful day out.