Today was a special day in the calendar. It was the day when Earth’s elliptical orbit of the sun marked its closest point in its 365 day journey – all resulting it what is known as ‘the longest day of the year’. Our journey from Twickenham to Normandy certainly felt like the longest day!

Leaving school at 10.30am, the group of 86 children and eight adults waved au revoir with energy and enthusiasm for the week ahead. This group had heard of the France trip for years and the day had finally arrived for their turn. Within minutes of travel, our smiling drivers were greeted with performances of ‘Sweet Caroline’, ‘We are the champions’, ‘YMCA’, ‘Football’s Coming Home’ and ‘Food Glorious Food’. Making good time, we arrived at Dover with an hour and a half to check-in…but, alas, French border control had other plans. Only two officers operating whilst also indulging in frequent ‘breaks’ meant the queue stood still and our 2pm departure quickly passed.

A 4pm departure to Dunkirk it was. Spirits were still undampened and news of free meal vouchers on the ferry left Mr Murphy beaming from ear to ear.

With a wide choice of dishes ranging from beef curry to grilled chicken, 86 orders of fish n chips left the cooks scrambling to meet our demands. Fizzy drinks were the figurative icing on the cake.

For many, this was the first time on a ferry and the experience was exhilarating.

After a two hour crossing on fine seas (no travel sickness whatsoever…for now at least), the horn sounded and teacher head counts landed on that magic number of 86. We returned to our coaches for a further 2.5 hours to our home for the week in Criel-sur-Mer. ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ were plentiful and Sweet Carolines sounded more like a record player on slow speed but at 9.45pm local time we arrived.

Warmly greeted by our Kingswood staff hosts, we were also greeted by some delicious French food which everyone enjoyed.

At 10.45pm, the moment they had been waiting for had arrived. Mr Cadman was elated to hear his first choice, Mr Bowell, was his roomie – the two skipping off holding hands. Equally, all others were happy with their allocations, at least until they heard they had to make their own beds!

“Straight to bed everyone. Breakfast at 8am tomorrow.” We’ll let you know, parents, how that goes.

So, not quite the first day we planned but nevertheless a good one. Lots planned this week: cultural excursions, historical reflections. But, most important: making memories with BFFs. We can already tick that one off.