New 2025 alumni news published! Thanks to all who sent news & stories, always love hearing from you! Who owns a sweet shop? Works at Disneyworld? Starred at London Fashion Week? All this & more in this edition! Enjoy! @WhitCofEAcad

Tonight, we dine with the locals at an open air food court. No-one was brave enough to select a large frog from the tank 😆 but we do have tasty Chinese & Thai dishes. Meal/can = £2.30 compared to double that at night market y’day. Study in effects of tourism for our geographers!

Today we explored more of this beautiful town. Nice lunch at iconic venue The Geographer & an exploration of the Sultan’s palace with its collection of outfits, weapons & tales of Melaka’s past as a key trading hub attracting merchants from China, Persia, Siam, India & more.

As dusk comes, traders arrive and Jonker St comes alive with hawkers, street food and dancing. Students enjoyed choosing from the various food stands.

The old spice trade port town of Melacca is a beautiful place full of character. Ramshackle old buildings wind along streets and pots of plants and street art can be seen at every turn.

This does mean the link previously sent out about results days has been updated. Please visit:

As term ends today, we launch the school’s new-look website in readiness for the new term. Hopefully it should be a smarter experience, particularly on mobile devices:

We left our conservation project this morning to travel to the old spice trade port of Melaka. We had a prize ceremony with prizes donated by the lovely owner of Nurbayu Chalet who has hosted us so well.

This was a truly magical, impactful day that will live with us all many years into the future. We all feel blessed to have had this experience and are grateful to the project staff for their work and guidance.

Then the highlight of the trip so far for most….the hatchling release. At sunset, we released 27 turtles. They get a 6-yard run-up to ensure they imprint onto this beach where hopefully they will return safely 20 years from now to nest, guided by their electromagnetic sensors.

Next job was to help Kasih turtle project staff increase the mangrove forest by planting out seedlings in shallow water. Their roots hold the sand & filter water as well as providing a unique habitat for mudskippers & fiddler crabs. Mangroves prevent erosion of nesting beaches.

Whilst the EU continues to cut down on single-use items, SE Asia has some way to go. Each time we shop we are given multiple poly bags without being asked. Everything comes in plastic cartons.

Once sorted, the numbers become sobering:.86 cups, 55 straws.98 bottle caps, 79 bottles.528 cigarette butts, 34 cig packs.77 takeaway containers, 27 plastic cutlery.5 fishing nets that could have become ghost nets and trap turtles. Single-use plastic here is everywhere.

Yesterday started with a beach clean. 12 people in one hour collected around 30kg of waste. A combination of tides and the monsoon will ensure the litter will soon return but we are told that locals seeing outsiders come in to clear up their beach will help change attitudes.

We took the eggs to the project, checked them and laid them in an artificial nest to incubate safely. A real highlight was seeing a hatchling emerge from an earlier nest.

On late night turtle patrol we encountered a deceased female sea turtle, a victim of a boat strike reminding us of the threats these animals face. We saw a sea snake! 81 eggs were purchased by the project from local egg collectors who had emptied a nest…

Hugo, Milo, Mr Craggs and Jake planted out 507 mangrove seeds. These had been collected and brought to the nursery. They’re planted in sets of 3x3 then tied together for support. Tomorrow, we take some out to extend the mangrove forests protection of this turtle habitat.

Ellie, Eleanor and Katie were tasked with using their artistic talents to touch-up and improve some existing murals.

Lucy, Daniel, Amber, Katie, Isla got busy painting the concrete steps to help improve the look of the project for visitors. Once painted white they got creative with a coral-themed mural topped off with the Whitburn whiting from our badge.

Jake, Hugo, Milo, Mr Craggs got stuck in digging out part of a bed for mangrove saplings and building a retaining wall from old planks to protect the saplings.