Teachers, pupils, dinner ladies and office staff from the Dhoon Primary School had a special weekend trip to Liverpool.

The whole school’s staff and pupils made the trip to the Liverpool World Museum to see the Terracotta Warriors exhibition.

The ancient Chinese statues are believed to date from the latter part of the third century BC.

For more than 2,000 years the underground army of life sized Terracotta Warriors secretly guarded the tomb of China’s first Emperor Qin Shi Huang until their chance discovery in 1974.

Ten warriors make up the centrepiece of the Liverpool display together with 180 other artefacts.

Executive head teacher Max Kelly said: ’Taking the whole-school off the island was not an entirely straightforward task.

’With all the pupils and staff the size of our party extended to over 80.

’That meant flights were difficult to come by, coach companies couldn’t fit us all on one coach, and dining in restaurants and cafes was problematic to arrange.’

The trip had a large effect on pupils who found the whole exhibition extremely interesting.

Imogen Howard, aged seven, said: ’I loved the trip and the best bit was looking at the Terracotta Warriors because it was interesting to see all the detail and see how they were made.’

Reda Bousseksou, also seven, added: ’I loved seeing the history of the warriors and finding out all about them.

’I can remember lots of facts that I learned.’

The Dhoon school has a strong bond with China and was recently visited by Minister Counsellor Wang Yongli from the Chinese Embassy in London during his visit to the island.