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On Saturday 28th February 2008, 30 pupils and 4 staff from Bannockburn High
School began their journey to the Italian resort of Pila situated in the
Aosta Valley. The group travelled by coach on an over-night journey, passing
through the Mount Blanc Tunnel and arriving at the Hotel Châteux in the
early afternoon.
The coach was brand new with all mod cons and the drivers were very friendly
and helpful. Each pupil would agree that the day-and-a-half bus voyage was
definitely worth the skiing experience.
All participants enjoyed taking part in skiing lessons. Throughout the week,
the group spent a total of 24 hours on the slopes. The beginner groups
started out on nursery slopes where they learned the basics of skiing, such
as how to “snow-plough” and stop. By the end of the week all pupils had made
significant progress in learning to ski.
The conduct of pupils through-out the excursion was outstanding and they are
a credit to the school community. Pupils injured when skiing during heavy
snow on the Wednesday continued to make the most of the trip for the
remaining days and participated in the evening activities.
As well as spending time on the slopes, the group also took part in numerous
après ski activities to amuse themselves each night.
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On Monday evening the pupils participated in a ten pin bowling
competition.
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Tuesday night’s activities took place in one of the towns music bar /
restaurants and pupils were given ‘all you can eat’ pizza and fizzy drinks.
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Wednesday night was disco night. This took place in a night club and the
pupils had a great time dancing the night away.
- Thursday evening began with shopping in Aosta town. Pupils enjoyed the
cosmopolitan atmosphere of the Italian cafés and took in the magnificent
Roman ruins and renaissance architecture. This was followed by karaoke and
quiz night where the vast majority of pupils displayed their ‘X’ factor and
sang their favourite songs.
- Friday evening was the presentation night and all pupils were presented
with their awards from their instructors.
The success of the course would not have been possible without the help and
support of Tesco Stores, Wallace Street, Stirling. Their services manager
Lynsey Donald and the staff in the store were very welcoming to our fund
raising pupils. The ski group would like to thank the customers in the store
for their generosity. Our fund-raising back pack raised £750.47 which
contributed to hiring safety helmets for pupils and covering the cost of
‘sterling weakness’ surcharges applied by the tour operator.
There is another ski course scheduled for March 2011.
^^B. Ogilvie
Party leader
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