Day 5 - Homecoming & Thank you

We awoke in Calais considerably earlier than planned thanks to our drivers and a distinct lack of traffic!

We were put on an earlier ferry so that we could get back to school to unload.
The crossing was ideal and very calm. Students had some breakfast and then chilled out in the lounge or up on top deck.

The white cliffs quickly approached and before we knew it we were pulling into port

Rufus and Chris kept us entertained with their harmonica skills (see youtube.com/missdurbanmusic) as we pulled into Balham.

We quickly unpacked the trailer as the students were picked up an hour ahead of schedule.

This is a chance for the teachers to say 'Thank You'. Thank you to the drivers and tour company and thank you to the teachers for giving up their holidays to accompany us on tour but the biggest thank you goes to you and your children.

Your children were an absolute pleasure to be around. They did the school proud and there was never a moment where they were anything but exceptional representatives. The local community loved their performances and commented on how polite and smiley they were. Even the border guards at the crossing this morning commented on how patient and calm they were and said 'thank you for being so good'. We were truly blown away by their enthusiasm and love of learning, they wanted to speak the language, know about the mountains, understand the culture and understand as much about their surroundings as possible and this love of learning will stand them in good stead in the future.
Alongside this we found their maturity and acceptance of each other to be another thing to be proud of. It's not easy to be thrown together with 39 other students for such a long period of time, but the students conducted themselves well and sorted out their differences in a mature and civilised manner.
Performing Arts teaches the importance of teamwork, resilience and positivity. Your children displayed these qualities in abundance and we are truly lucky to have such a great group as part of the Performing Arts family at Chestnut Grove. We were immensely proud of your children on this tour and look forward to working with them over the year in the coming performances. Thank you for making this tour possible, your children are wonderful but they wouldn't be here without you.

Thank you
Ms Durban & the team