Setting sail around the English Channel

Year 9 students recently embarked on the trip of a lifetime with the Ocean Youth Trust, which led them on a sailing expedition around the English Channel.

The Ocean Youth Trust is a charity which uses sailing as a way to create personal development opportunities for young people aged 12-25.

The adventure started early for the 5 students, as they arrived bleary eyed, but very excited and ready to make the train journey to Southampton, where they would be setting sail.

The trip lasting 5 nights, was a fantastic success with all of the students acting as wonderful ambassadors for the Academy.  However, it was no walk in the park as Siham Elmie explains “The sailing trip was a truly life changing experience. Although the first couple of days were very hard and the sea sickness wasn’t very nice, I learnt a lot of new skills such as winching, helming, navigating, knot tying and the meaning of different buoys. Furthermore, I learnt a lot about myself, my capabilities and mental strength!”

Having braved the elements at sea, the students were lucky enough to dock at a few lovely South Coast seaside towns, “We went from Southampton to Pool, but stopped at different places on the way. We went across the Channel to Alderney, then to Weymouth and anchored down at Studland Bay before finishing at Poole”, Esme Bloom described.

The students made their way back to the academy very tired but full of pride, excitement and stories from the expedition.  The Ocean Youth Trust later explained that the group were a credit to themselves and the Academy and have extended an invitation to set sail again soon.