Not long after the return of the third year students from New Zealand, Buckswood begins preparations for the annual summer visit to Venice enjoyed by its youngest students in form one.

The children are transported by school coach to Stansted Airport and are flown to Treviso near Venice, and then by coach to the family-owned Hotel Al Sole. Dinner is enjoyed each evening at the popular local restaurant, Antico Cason, where the children have the freedom of the menu! Many forego the traditional pizza to dine on steak and seafood!

The four-day trip includes visits to the Venetian island of Murano, where the children enjoy a wonderful lunch, al fresco, before visiting one of the many Venetian glass workshops to watch the craftsmen at work. This is followed by shopping in St. Marks Square and a special gondola trip on three privately chartered gondolas.

During their time in Italy, the children travel by train from Treviso, high into the Dolomites, to the Alpine town of Belluno, where they are met by their guide, Monica, for an afternoon’s trekking to study the local flora and fauna, in the mountains above the town.

The trip to Venice is undoubtedly one of the highlights of a student’s time in Form One, and one which they recall with pleasure for many months afterwards.