Nicola Chandler, head of languages at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Kent shares her experience of their largest ever exchange trip to Cologne in Germany.
A total of 43 pupils from Year 9 and 10 travelled from the school in Faversham to the Albertus Magnus Gymnasium in Cologne for the 71st annual German exchange.
The group were able to experience a new and different culture, practise the German language every day for a week and learn new words during the visit in November 2023.
The first day was Sunday with the host families. Activities included baking Christmas cookies, visiting the city, participating in music workshops, going ice skating and watching a live ice hockey match.
The experiences that the children gain from taking part in a full exchange with host families is so valuable.
One of the students said: “I have never been to anything like this trip, I ticked off pretty much my whole bucket list in a week.”
Monday was a school day. QE pupils were able to take part in lessons, compete in quizzes, and even create a human shape of the two schools’ initials: QE + AMG.
The project for the exchange partners was to create a video of Germany’s everyday school life in comparison to the UK, which was presented on the final evening at school. It was a very fitting end to the week.
Tuesday was a joint excursion to an adventure park, climbing, skateboarding, BMX, and aerobics. A pupil said: “Soooo fun! But my feet hurt the next day.”
The school’s approach to learning outside the classroom
Educational visits are very important to Queen Elizabeth’s School in Kent. Nicola Chandler, head of languages and German subject leader, said that they have three exchange trips - Germany, France and Spain. The school also runs other overseas trips, linked to various subjects and topics, including Paris, Berlin, Barcelona and CERN in Switzerland.
For Nicola, overseas visits go ‘hand in hand with studying languages’. She said: “They’re so important. For some children, it’s the first time they’ve been abroad so it’s getting that experience of another country, culture and language. It’s exciting for the students to try and communicate with people in a different language and try different foods. These visits give them more of a reason to study in the classroom too and improves motivation.
“We are very lucky at our school. Everyone sees the value in these trips, and teachers spend a huge amount of time organising and taking the trips, but we all believe that it’s time well spent and they are so valuable.”
On the last day, the QE pupils visited Cologne city, seeing the cathedral inside and all the way up to the top, a walk on the padlock bridge and “my new favourite food” spaghetti ice cream!
Not to mention going to the Lindt Chocolate Museum Factory, learning about sustainable chocolate and sampling some along the way. We were fortunate to be there as the Christmas markets opened and could experience that magical time too.
“I have never been to anything like this trip, I ticked off pretty much my whole bucket list in a week.”
Pupil comment
Sadly, it had to come to an end on Friday morning with one of the students saying: “It was an amazing experience I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
The experiences that the children gain from taking part in a full exchange with host families is so valuable. This was the largest group ever to take part. Exchange partners were matched up well and it was clear that some real friendships were made. Some pupils were taking part for a second time, which speaks volumes.
Often, exchange partners remain in contact and arrange private visits during the school holidays. It is certainly a trip that stays with them for a very long time.
