From Sunday 21st to Friday 26th June 2026, seven of our teachers accompanied 101 Première students on an exciting five-day trip to Brussels. Packed with EU-focused activities, the programme gave students the opportunity to experience first-hand how the European Union works and to explore its institutions in greater depth.
During our stay, we visited the EU Parliament and the Parlamentarium, the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Commission’s interactive exhibition Experience Europe, and the House of European History. Each visit offered a different perspective on European cooperation, democracy and policymaking.
One day was dedicated to the theme of human rights. Following an inspiring presentation by Marian Blondeel from United Nations, students joined Jean-Philippe Theyskens from the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium for a fascinating introduction to paintings depicting human rights violations. They were then able to explore the artworks in the museum themselves and reflect on the powerful stories they tell.
Throughout the week, students also completed a variety of fun and engaging challenges. These ranged from identifying Brussels‘ iconic architecture—such as the magnificent guildhalls around the Grand-Place and comparing Art Nouveau with Neoclassical styles—to spotting as many embassies as possible, keeping an eye out for diplomatic number plates (without photographing them, of course!), counting VIP motorcades, and discovering all sorts of sights and details that you simply don’t come across in our little corner of the world.
On our final day, with the heatwave reaching its peak, we still managed to admire some of Brussels‘ famous comic-strip murals. However, we decided to give the Atomium a miss—it would have felt less like sightseeing and more like climbing around inside an oven!
Heatwave or not, the week was packed with discoveries, new perspectives and experiences that will stay with our students long after they left Brussels.