What a week full of unforgettable memories!
This is the second year that we run a exchange programme with our partner school (Nuryana School) in Tenerife, Spain. This year we hosted 24 students from Year 9, 10 and 12 and welcomed three fantastic and dedicated Spanish teachers. It has been a wonderful experience with plenty of remarkable moments.
Our Spanish friends really enjoyed studying in an English school, eating English food and sharing and comparing their customs and traditions with us. On Wednesday, we all went to London together and saw the top sights and on Saturday we enjoyed a boat tour of Portsmouth Harbour, visited the HMS and the Victory and the museum. We finished the visit with a delicious fish and chips lunch in a traditional English pub.
On Sunday, our visitors spent the day with their host families. Some students went to Brighton others went bowling and others, making the most of the glorious weather, spent the day at the beach.
One popular activity among the students has been playing football in the park after school. Apparently, we need to train a bit more so we can beat the Spanish team when we go to visit them in Tenerife in June.
The majority of students and all Spanish teachers saw our production "Alice in Wonderland" and were amazed by the quality of the show and the amount of work involved. They left thinking how they could do something similar in Spain. Special mention goes to Adrián González, who along with his English friend Thomas Bacon, was happily involved in the show every day of the week.
Saying goodbye on the last day was quite emotional but the majority of students were organising their own future trips to see each other again. We are not sure the parents have been informed yet of these extra plans but it was lovely to see them wanting to repeat the experience again.
We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the parents who sent us lovely emails thanking us for organising the exchange and sharing lovely photos with us. We would also like to say thank you for being such a great hosts. All the Spanish students left with a smile on their faces and incredible experiences to remember.
We are all looking forward to preparing our trip to Tenerife in June and seeing our friends again.
Elizabeth López Gamero, Team Leader of Spanish and International School Coordinator
