English Students visit Spain, October 2010

During October 2010, seventeen students from Years 10 to 13, accompanied by two members of staff spent a week in Alhaurín de la Torre, south Spain as part of our first Spanish exchange programme with I.E.S Huerta Alta.  

Our stay was a complete success according to the enthusiastic accounts from our students and their Andalucian host families.

During our stay we enjoyed summery weather of up to 30 degrees!

Our English party was introduced to the fascinating bilingual teaching environment of our partner school where English is the main language of teaching for some groups.  Spanish and French also feature prominently on the timetable and during our activities.

Students visited the Nerja caves (250,000 years old), the Science Museum and the Planetarium as well as the sports stadium where they enjoyed an exciting basketball match of the Euro League. And, of course, we could not have left this astounding region without visiting the famous sandy beaches. All had the opportunity to enjoy the gastronomic delights of the Andalucian region.

Due to the cross curricular dimension of the exchange, students attended different lessons at school and made some presentations on our region and curriculum. These were impressive and they were all carried out mostly in Spanish. Our youngsters got plenty of opportunities to practise their Spanish with their exchange partners and families too.

Spanish and English students had the pleasure of being received by the Mayor of the town in the town hall and had the chance to ask him some questions about the difficulties of the current political situation.

To crown the experience the hosting students delighted us with a goodbye concert which included piano, violin and clarinet performances.

We believe that this new exchange has been given a flying start and many will keep fond memories of their first time in the Spanish Andalucian region.

We now look forward to welcoming the Spanish party for the second leg of the exchange at the end of March 2011.

Take a look at the website of I.E.S Huerta Alta