25 Years of German Exchange visits to Hamelin!
This year is a special year at Alton Convent School as we celebrate 25 years of exchange trips to Hamelin in Germany. Recently we welcomed a group of twenty one German students at our school who stayed in families of Year 10 GCSE German pupils. The girls knew each other well as we had visited Hamelin and our partner school earlier in the year.
The German visitors observed a variety of lessons, took part in Latin role plays and a Physics speed of sound experiment on the school fields. They were impressed with the wealth of activities available at our school and loved the food in the brand new refectory.
Our host families made a huge effort to organise an action packed weekend and treated them to unforgettable days out to Oxford and London. Staying in families proofed to be a huge success and helped to overcome some old stereotypes like the one about English food!
It has become a tradition over the years that our fare-well party includes sporty competitions and a picnic on the school grounds. It must be said that the German girls gave their all in the Rounders match, especially after the rules were explained in a mix of German and English!
There were many long faces when the bus picked our German friends up from school on Monday morning. However, a new generation of pen friends has been formed with Year 9 pupils looking forward to their trip in May 2013.
Next 25 years here we come!