We were so pleased this year to be able to offer the Barcelona trip to our Year 12 and 13 art students after a six-year hiatus.

We had four fantastic days exploring Barcelona with the main purpose of recording, drawing and experiencing first hand the wonderful sights and artwork that Barcelona has to offer.

We started our trip by meeting at Gatwick at 6.30am. With everyone present we made our way to the waiting area for breakfast and drawing! Once we arrived we were met and taken to our hostel by train. Once settled, we took a lovely walk in the glorious sunshine through parks to the Gothic quarter where we visited the Museum Picasso for more drawing and observations. It was so lovely seeing the students engage with the work.

On day 2, we took a minibus trip to Figueres, Dali's home town, where the Dali Theatre was built in 1972. Before we got there we stopped to visit Gerona a medieval city with its magnificent Cathedral. Once in the Dali Theatre students were able to explore the myriad of varied works Dali had created, a place to imagine the impossible, students left feeling inspired and full of new ideas for their projects. Again drawing was key here and looking at their sketchbooks in the evening it was wonderful to see the creativity and talent throughout their books. We returned to Barcelona for some Tapas in the Gothic quarter, hoping to see some flamenco - we had to make do with a few steps from Mr Bowman. We celebrated an 18th birthday with cake too!

During day 3, which turned out to be a lot of the students' favourite day, we visited Parc Guell and Sagrada Familia. Again the weather was beautiful, a little windy but plenty of sunshine. We spent the morning in Parc Guell - park that Industrialist and art patron Eusebi Guell commissioned Antoni Gaudi to design. The students enjoyed exploring the grounds and observing views of Barcelona from the terrace with its curved benches covered in mosaic tiles. We then set off across the city to visit Gaudi's most famous architectural creation, the tallest church in the world, the Sagrada Familia. As we entered the vast interior we were bathed in beautiful warm light as the afternoon sun steamed in through the towering stain glass windows, a truly magical sight. We were guided around the space and were then free to wander and record the incredible building. We also explored the city spending time in the evening walking or as they like to say in Catalan 'passejant' down La Ramblas to the sea. I managed 27,000 steps that day.

The last day involved more walking up to the views from the Miro Gallery where we explored his time and influence on artists in the United States. It was a real pleasure to see so many female abstract expressionist artists in one gallery and many of whom were not recognised at the time. It is always good to see how galleries are rewriting history. We had our final adventure in the Poble Espanyol, which for those students interested in Architecture has 117 real-life scale buildings from virtually every part of Spain. All styles represented, from Romanesque to Baroque. We had our final walk admiring the views to pick up our bags and fly back to London.

Thank you so much to the students whose behaviour was impeccable, their artistic skills and thoughtful interesting conversations made the trip a wonderful experience for all. Thanks to Mr Bowman whose map reading skills allowed me to paseo from the rear and take in all the sight. I think I took well over 500 photos! Thanks to Ms Omar in the finance office for her support in organising the trip. We look forward to running our next trip in two years time.

Ms Sanger

Delilah - Year 12: "Spending time in Barcelona for art was the absolute best. Not only did we get to enjoy the lovely hot weather, but we also got to explore multiple artists such as Dali and Picasso and visit their museums. My favourite day was visiting La Sagrada Familia, which is still under construction. It was really interesting to learn about its history and to see the famous architecture up close! I will definitely be booking tickets to go back there again."

Samuel - Year 12: "The Barcelona trip was a brilliant opportunity to explore a whole world of fascinating art in such detail, being able to just roam freely and sketch and record whatever most inspired us, painting, sculpture, architecture or just some of the sights of the city. My favourite part was the Salvador Dali museum which gave a great look at so many avenues of his work that I would never have known about otherwise. It also helped me feel a lot closer and more confident with my class and teachers!"

Zahraa, Zara and Seobin - Year 13: "It was so nice to experience such unique architecture. The most striking aspect of the trip had to be our trip to La Sagrada Família by Gaudi. The atmosphere was an inspiring break from A levels and we are so grateful to Ms Sanger and Mr Bowman for such a great trip!"