Recently 18 of our boys travelled to Germany for the second leg of our successful exchange programme with the Otto-Hahn Gymnasium in Göttingen, to stay with their exchange partners and their families. Our pupils received a very warm welcome from the entire school, temporarily becoming members of their host families, tasting a range of German food and, of course, they enjoying the fun-packed programme our host school had put in place for us. This included a trip to Berlin, where we experienced centuries of history first-hand, and we even entered the Reichstag, the German parliament building. A trip to the Harz mountains was fantastic too, taking us back to medieval Germany, as well as involving going down a mine!

In their free time, our pupils and their exchange partners went to the cinema and enjoyed shopping, bowling and discovering the surrounding area. Although everybody returned very tired, this was once again a successful trip. This is what our pupils thought of the exchange:

“It’s certainly a unique experience, and helps me to understand another way of life. The exchange offers an opportunity for students to brush up on their German, take part in activities, meet new people and, of course, see life through the eyes of a student in a foreign country.” (Gabriel I, 10B)

“First, I didn’t want to do it, but I changed my mind and ended up having a great time. The exchange partner was a very good fit for me, and I got to know everyone’s exchange partners, not just mine.” (Huw H, 10R)

“I had lots of fun with my friends and it’s definitely one of the best school trips I’ve been on.” (Sam LS, 10B)

“I found that it was a new thing for me and kind of struggled to make a start to the exchange, as I could’ve probably communicated prior to them coming to England, so for the first couple of days it was kind of awkward to break that silence, but it was nice to see that later on and over the weekend it was good to bump into other people on the exchange and talk more, and I found I was talking to my partner more over the weekend. And Germany was so nice. The family welcomed me in so well, and I was taken aback by how nice and generous they were to me. Yanika had two sisters who I got on really well with, and the family were basically really nice to me. They asked me questions like if I wanted to drink something or eat something and were really generous. We also went to lots of places like Berlin and went into Göttingen on the weekend. They took me to a car museum because I told them I liked cars, and I’ve got to admit I really didn’t want it to end. I think Yanika and I really got on well and hope to keep in contact in the future. I did leave a note saying I’d love to come back in the future and they said I’d be more than welcome.” (Douglas P, 10R)