PHILEAS Fogg might have thought he was quick, but for students at Westacre Middle School, it was a case of travelling around the world in five days last week, as the school went off timetable to take part in a series of activities celebrating geography and history as part of World Learning Week.

The school is involved in the Comenius project, which links it to other schools in Greece, Germany, Poland, France and Spain, and they’ve already received visitors from the linked countries.

As part of World Learning Week they took a closer look at the countries, taking part in a themed treasure hunt to find out more about them.

They also delved into history, dressing up as different historical figures to create a human timeline, and trying their hand at their own mini archaeological digs, and finding out all about primary and secondary archaeological evidence.

Jo Riddleston, head of humanities at the school, said: “They’ve had a brilliant time. We had a balloon debate, with e children taking on different roles from Anne Frank to Doctor Who and arguing whether they should be the last person to stay in a falling balloon. They were very good at that. They’ve definitely got a lot out of the week, and it certainly gave them a real interest in the Comenius countries. Themed weeks are quite a common thing at the school, but they always get so excited about them.”