German Exchange Visit

A report from Year 10 student Georgina Chick:

In the summer of 2012, 25 English pupils from BRGS, were matched with 25 German students from Kaiserin Friedrich Gymnasium (KFG). It was the first German exchange that has been carried out at BRGS for over 10 years, and in my opinion it was a huge success!

The first time that we met our exchange partners was on Thursday 27th September 2012. It was a highly anticipated and long awaited meeting as we had all been in close contact with our partners and were both excited and nervous about meeting them for the first time. All of the German students were collected from the airport by their exchange families and the adventure began. We spent the first evening at home and got to know our new friends; this was good as it meant that they felt more comfortable around us and our families but still had the Friday to see their friends before the weekend. The next day at school was a very interesting day for the German exchange students I think as it was unusual for them to have to do such long hours at school and a treat to be able to lie in and school begin at 8:45 rather than the usual 7:55 in Germany. Throughout 1st period the German students were given a tour of school and they also spent periods 4 and 5 together on a tour around Waterfoot and the local area – fortunately it didn’t rain!

On Monday 1st October both the English students and the German students went on a day out in York; it was a great day where everybody got to be with their friends and we all bonded as a group. We went on a tour around the York Castle Museum and then saw the York cathedral before spending the afternoon having free time in York. The following evening we all went out to the year 12 music concert after a day of school and spent the evening in each other’s company (I think this was a nice break for the German students as it mean that they could speak their own language!) On the final evening we had a goodbye party at Sandbrook Park where we all went bowling and some people played laser quest. Thursday was an emotional day as we all had to say goodbye as we dropped our exchange partners off at the Littleborough train station ready for a day in Manchester and the journey home.

Everybody stayed in close contact with their exchange partners for the rest of 2012 and over the Christmas holidays, building on friendships and preparing for our return visit.

On Wednesday 13th February all of the English exchange students met at Manchester airport at 7:45 in the morning ready for our departure. Upon arrival in Germany some of us were collected from the airport by our exchange parents (school hadn’t finished by that time so we had to wait until we got back to their houses before we could reunite with our exchange friends) and others took the train to Bad Homburg where they were collected by their exchange families and their exchange partners. Like when the Germans came to England, we spent the first afternoon and evening at home getting to know our exchange families. On the second day we were woken up incredibly early ready for school which began at 7:55.

KFG is an enormous school, which accommodated students aged 10 to 18. It was very modern- looking compared to BRGS and strangely, the students stayed in one classroom all day (changing only for sport, music or art) whilst the teachers moved about the classes. We were given a tour of the school, began our projects (writing a quiz about Bad Homburg for a group of future exchange students) and were given a tour of Bad Homburg. That evening we returned to the school and watched the school performance of Brundibár – it was great! On Friday we all returned to school and then spent the evening and the weekend with our exchange families. As when the German students came to England, we took the Monday off school and went on a group visit to Mainz. First of all we visited the Gutenberg museum and had the chance to participate in some printing using an old-fashioned printing press as well as seeing the smallest book in the world. Next we were taken to the Rhine before being given some free time to explore the city. That was my favourite day in Germany and again we bonded as a group. On Tuesday we went to school and then had a goodbye party at the swimming centre that was very close to the school, it was complete with slides and a current pool! On the final day we said goodbye to our exchange families first thing in the morning before school and thanked them profusely for our stay. We then had a day of school and a trip to the local castle before heading off to the airport and returning home.

All in all a great time was had by all and I would definitely recommend it to anybody considering going on a German exchange next year as it really is a great experience!

German Exchange Visit