Smiles all round during King’s Ely exchange visits to Spain and Germany

King’s Ely Senior students were able to soak up the sights and sounds of Germany and Spain thanks to two exciting exchange visits held during the Easter break.

A group of 21 Spanish-studying students in Years 9 to 11 enjoyed an action-packed exchange trip to the modern city of Albacete in Spain, which is where King’s Ely’s new Spanish partner school, IES Andrés Vandelvira, is located.

The trip saw students spending lots of time in the Spanish school, taking part in lessons with their new friends, working collaboratively on the design of a school magazine and, of course, practising their Spanish language skills. However, students and staff also crammed in plenty of sightseeing, enabling them to really soak up the atmosphere and culture of Albacete. Highlights included visiting Las Lagunas de Ruidera, a national park full of history and beautiful landscapes, visiting the famous Cueva de Montesinos, which features in the world-famous Spanish book Don Quixote, and the Warner Bros Theme Park in Madrid.

Head of Spanish and Modern Foreign Languages at King’s Ely Senior, Esmeralda Salgado, said: ‘Experiences were forged, friendships were made and linguistic skills were certainly improved. I am immensely proud of how integrated, open minded and enthusiastic all our students were and how well they embraced the challenges of the language, the huge amount of socialising and the lack of sleep. We are looking forward to welcoming our new friends to Ely in June!’

Four Year 10 students also enjoyed an exchange trip to Remchingen in South-West Germany during the Easter break. It was the school’s first ever exchange visit with the grammar school there, Gymnasium-Remchingen.

Head of German at King’s Ely Senior, Neil Unwin, said: ‘We had a very busy week, not just with lessons and activities at the German school but also by getting out and about lots. We visited Stuttgart and the zoo there, and were lucky enough to see the magnificent magnolias in full bloom. We also went to Wolfach in the Black Forest to do some glass blowing. Everyone made a vase, which they were then able to take home! Our hosts arranged great activities for our students over the weekend and on Monday, our last day, we went to the beautiful spa town Baden-Baden, where we enjoyed the good old German tradition of Kaffee und Kuchen – and some more food. The headmistress at the German school praised our students and said she was already looking forward to the next visit – and many more after that.’

To find out more about opportunities at King’s Ely, please visit www.kingsely.org.