Dear Parents,

I write to give a brief report on our trip to Rome. We had a fabulous time. We kept very busy and did a lot of walking. It rained the day we arrived, but the sun shone for us on Friday and Saturday, although the temperature was still cool. Your daughters were impeccably behaved and coped very well with getting themselves around Rome on the occasions when they were allowed out unsupervised in groups. I have never had as much excellent service in restaurants as I witnessed whenever we ate out as a group. I cannot imagine why.

Day 1: After checking in to our modest hotel we went for lunch and then visited the fabulous churches of Santa Maria Maggiore with its beautiful coffered ceiling and the tomb of Pope Sixtus V in its Capella Sistina with its lofty dome and San Pietro in Vincoli, where we saw St Peter’s chains, Michelangelo’s Moses and a Byzantine mosaic of St Sebastian. We then walked to the Colosseum in pouring rain and when we had seen enough we returned to the hotel to dry out and go for dinner.

Day 2: The sun shone and we were in the mood for walking. We saw the Fontana delle Naiadi, Piazza del Quirinale, Trajan’s column and forum, the Monument of Victor Emanuel II, the Theatre of Marcellus, the Capitoline Hill, the Forum Romanum with the triumphal arches of Septimius Severus and Titus, the arch of Constantine, the Palatine hill, the Circus Maximus, the Bocca della Verita, where no one lost a hand you will be relieved to hear, and finally the temples of Vesta and Fortuna Virilis. We lunched in the Trastevere district over the Tiber, after which we visited the Isola Tiberina, the Campo del Fiori, the Piazza Navona, where the Guardian elect showed her true colours, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain.

Day 3: We walked to San Giovanni in Laterano, where we caught a local bus to the suburbs of Rome to visit the Catacomb of Santa Callista. We then returned to Rome and walked to the Spanish Piazza with its famous Spanish steps and split up. The girls spent the afternoon wandering and shopping.

Day 4: We walked to the Vatican where we saw the Pope. After lunch we visited the Castel San Angelo and then made our way to the airport.

You may recall that I asked you to furnish me with an additional £17 for incidental expenses. I spent it as follows: £9.50 each for return coach fare from Ciampino airport to central Rome. 21.50 Euros group entry to the Colosseum. 3 Euros each for return bus fare to the Catacomb. 40 Euros group entry to the catacomb. I subsidised the coffee break on our last morning with 10 Euros and split the remaining 40 Euros amongst the girls giving them 4 Euros each.

There will be a charge for the service provided by the school minibus, which delivered and collected most of the group at Gatwick.  This will be added to your termly accounts unless I hear otherwise from you.

Finally, a big thank you to Dr Coates-Smith for coming with us, to you for allowing me to take your daughters on what was a very enjoyable trip for all of us and to your daughters for being such excellent travelling companions. Watch out for a report by the girls with their photographs, which will be on the Classics page of the school website next term.

Best wishes for the Easter break,

Steve Dearnaley,

Director of Studies.