Nothing can quite replicate the experience of visiting a foreign country, experiencing its culture, and speaking to its inhabitants in their own tongue. We pride ourselves on offering one of the most comprehensive, exciting and educationally valuable programmes of trips and exchanges of any school in the world. From the Lower School right up to the Sixth Form, pupils are given the opportunity to visit a wide variety of countries to improve their language skills and open their eyes to foreign cultures.
A world of opportunities: putting modern languages into action.
All Lower School pupils spend a week at a château in Normandy at the end of Year 8, combining a wide range of cultural, linguistic and interdisciplinary activities. Meanwhile, those studying German are able to visit the Aachen Christmas market, whilst Hispanists travel to Valencia to get their first taste of speaking Spanish in a real world context.
Trips and exchanges are offered for all languages in the Middle School, with visits to France, Spain, Germany, Russia and China. Particular highlights include the Russian study trip to Moscow and St Petersburg for Year 10 pupils, as well as the interdisciplinary French Ski Trip which sees Year 10 and Year 11 pupils immersed in the French language while learning to ski.
Students of French and Spanish have the choice of either participating in an exchange with our partner schools in Málaga and Lyon, or taking a more academic approach by attending a language school in Santiago de Compostela or Montpellier.
Some of these exchanges, such as the German exchange to Ibbenbüren, have been running for decades; this illustrates both the depth of our relationship with our partner schools, and the success and popularity of these trips.
The central role of languages within the IB means that our Sixth Form students also enjoy numerous opportunities to expand their horizons. Exchanges to Brussels, Lyon and Santiago are complemented by study trips to Berlin and Salamanca, as well as visits to Italy and China.
The wealth of visits on offer means that every pupil has the chance to put their linguistic skills to the test, grow in confidence and develop a real passion for the languages that they study.