Eighteen pupils, aged 14-18, and two staff spent an almost absurdly intense week exploring Tuscany.
We spent three days being overwhelmed by art in Florence, then retreated for a ‘quiet’ (and beautifully warm and sunny) day in the old hill town of San Gimignano before exploring Siena and Pisa with zest and newly developed expertise.
If you think glittering golden images of the Madonna and Child, pale writhing statues of saints, Gothic campaniles or Albertian arcades are inevitably Boring For Teenagers, reconsider.
Tthis group were by turns curious, academically stimulated, amused, emotionally engaged and overwhelmed.
Some (such as year 10 in Siena) were even prepared to forego lunch for the chance to bag another tranche of 14th century Madonna‘n’Child paintings.
They strove to make connections between the arts (some year 13 pupils used their ipods to try to find the right music to accompany the Michelangelo chapel in Florence).
Meanwhile, all were treated to readings of Dante (in Italian) in some of the rooms that he certainly knew, including the main chamber of the Town Hall of San Gimignano.
Some of the more intellectually-minded conversations on our bus journeys were known as Danter-Banter in 
recognition of the poet’s sublime achievement.
Most pupils had prepared carefully for the trip by attending classes and by reading widely; many of them sketched; some made extremely prescient and interesting observations (for instance upon the apparent reluctance of the child-murderers in Duccio’s Massacre of the Innocents).
Those pupils studying History of Art A-level (introduced at Taunton two years ago) were able to help staff with guiding, and really I was amazed and extremely impressed with the resilience of pupils, who readily tended to get up for ‘extra’ options at 8 am (sometimes to see frescoed chapels during mass, or to visit empty palaces such as the 14th century Davanzati in Florence).
Many were still hunting down interesting architectural sights well into the night, and I won’t forget our quest to find medieval fountains in Siena one brilliant moonlit night.
Being low season, everywhere was empty and we could afford pleasant hotels … it also probably helped that we ate very well, and several pupils took on the challenge of the Bistecca Fiorentina, a massive very rare steak, so the art formed a relaxing antidote after this.
We had ghost stories under medieval arches, played the Spy Game, climbed towers at sunset and sat in cafes in medieval squares…
We were well treated by everybody except the bus companies, who left us stranded in industrial suburbs from time to time.
But everyone fell in love with Italy, and we can’t wait to go back. Meanwhile, I am confident that this was a quite exceptionally fun, productive and rewarding experience, and I only wish our political masters and those educationalist VIP types could have seen how much can be learnt in such circumstances, entirely free from numbing exam strictures, the modules and the mocks!