L6^th BTEC pupils enjoyed a fantastic trip to London.

On Monday, we left Bruton excited about a busy 48 hours in the Capital. Our first appointment was to visit The Landmark Hotel in Marylebone, hosted by Old Brutonian, Amy Henthorne, who holds a senior HR position at the 5* hotel. As well as a tour of the facilities the students gained a detailed insight into the roles of all the support departments within the organisation - housekeeping, sales and marketing, finance and customer services. After the presentations we all enjoyed a wonderful afternoon tea in the Winter Garden Restaurant.

Then it was off to St Paul's Cathedral to listen to the King’s Bruton Chapel Choir perform Evensong as part of the school’s 500^th Anniversary celebrations; this was a truly once in a lifetime special occasion and enjoyed by everyone.

The evening was spent onboard a river cruise, getting first-hand experience of providing food on the move as well as seeing the London sights lit up at night was spectacular.

On Tuesday, we were hosted by General Palmer, our Senior Warden, initially at Cargo in Shoreditch, an on-trend night club located under the railway arches with a capacity of 750 complete with a graffiti and Banksy collection. Mark, the General Manager, was able to give all the students an understanding of the complex responsibilities and demands of running 22 different clubs in and around Shoreditch. Each club was very different, and this was evident with our visit to The King’s Head - a exclusive membership club with an astonishing collection of taxidermy.

Every element of the visit will be written up as evidence for the pupils current BTEC unit, but as important were so many life lessons learnt, as for some students, it was their first visit to London, or a first ever trip on the underground. There was the stunning varied architecture, the sun shone and the skies were blue; overall a trip with experiences that will stay with our students for the future.

Rose Vigers-Belgeonne - Head of Food Studies & BTEC Hospitality