Head of Sixth Form Kim Isaksen, our new Head Girl Ellie Mae Moore and Year 13 student Klaudia Chalubinska will travel to Uganda later this month for an international conference after more than £3,000 was raised to fund the trip.

The group will set off on October 30. This year will be the fourth year representatives of the Academy have travelled to Uganda to take part in the conference at the Discovery Centre.

Fundraising efforts for the trip have included a fancy dress disco, cake stalls and a race night. Students also sold fortune cookies and Valentines hearts and roses.

Mrs Isaksen said: “I’d like to say a big thank you to staff, students and parents who have supported this.

“The trip is a fantastic opportunity for students to experience a different culture and develop a range of new skills.”

Klaudia said: “When we were selling or doing new things to raise money, the students were really excited – we sold out of the fortune cookies and had to go and get more to sell.”

Klaudia also worked manning an information point at the Formula One Grand Prix at the Silverstone Circuit to help raise money.

Mrs Isaksen, Ellie Mae and Klaudia will attend the conference along with Ugandan students and other students from the UK. The conference will be about world affairs, with topics up for discussion including humanitarian aid and sustainability.

During their week-long trip the group will also take a canoe trip into Lake Victoria to visit a chimpanzee sanctuary on an island and will visit the source of the River Nile. They are also set to visit local primary schools.