Year 10/Year 11 Trips to Germany and France

Over the last week of the Autumn term, Year 10 and 11 students studying French and German were lucky enough to visit either Strasbourg or Cologne, to develop their language skills and cultural awareness.

Students studying French went to ‘la Capitale de Nöel,’ the very beautiful city of Strasbourg. The lively atmosphere of the Christmas markets, Christmas lights and very large Christmas tree in the town square were appreciated by all and they also saw some snow to add to the festive feeling! Students enjoyed visits to a chocolate factory, a cheese factory, the Pixel museum to take them back to their childhood and the Science museum. The group took part in questionnaires/interviews to get them to practise their French and they became quite competitive in the photo challenge. Students learned about the history of this city by going on a tourist boat ride and carried out a treasure hunt in the old quarter. Of course, no visit to Strasbourg would be complete without a visit to the European Parliament which was a great experience for the whole group.

Those students studying German were taken to Cologne. They had to set off very early on the Sunday morning but it was worth it!!! Upon arrival, the group headed straight for the chocolate museum and,after learning about all the stages of its production, they stopped for quite a while at a chocolate fountain.Students also had a guided tour of Cologne and admired the beautiful cathedral.

Not only did they became specialists at identifying scents in the museum of perfume, but also at they learned how to control their nerves whilst riding Europe’s biggest roller coaster at Phantasialand. One of the highlights of the trip was the “Escape Rooms”- the group can proudly say that they managed to “find the key and run away”. Students definitely did not want to run away from Cologne, though and were all sad to say farewell to a city that has spoiled them with its charming ambience. It was a unique team building and linguistic experience and hopefully it has encouraged students to experience “Nächster Halt Deutschland” again in the future.

We strongly believe that we should offer our students an array of experiences outside of the classroom. Trips, as a group, to see other countries, cities and cultures certainly help students to broaden their horizons as well as their language skills.