We had one of our largest groups yet take part in this year’s German Exchange and from the positive feedback, many students enjoyed the opportunity to throw themselves into the experience. Several parents would quite happily have taken part as well! In any case, we packed in nine full days over the April holidays, five days of which were spent in school, much to the delight of our Year 10 students, who got to attend lessons such as Maths and Sciences in German. What a pleasure! And yes, German students get homework too. The Year 12s were on the other end of the lessons, supporting younger groups as teaching assistants.  

Our exchange school families hosted our students with the usual warm and generous Bavarian hospitality: for many this meant plenty of delicious food and lots of excursions. Munich is well-placed for visiting the Alps and King Ludwig II’s castles. Several had the opportunity to visit the fairy-tale castle, Schloss Neuschwanstein. 

Most days started with Brezel and we covered many of Munich’s sights. Our exchange school is well situated in the heart of Munich, on the Viktualienmarkt, which ensured we were in pole position for plenty of visits. We went through the city centre, visiting the numerous churches of Munich. One host family offered the group the chance to go up St. Paul’s Church Tower and we enjoyed a private tour with views onto the city centre and Theresienwiesen, location of Oktoberfest and other fairs. We managed a quick visit to the Hofbräuhaus, where the students had the chance to experience a Bierkeller without the Bier of course! Many opted for Apfelschorlen or Spezis and tried the traditional Bavarian Weißwurst.

Culture was selbstverständlich high on our agenda. The Year 10s went to the Pinakothek der Moderne to enjoy a broad range of modern art and design, including some quite challenging modern art, which led to many deep discussions. The Year 12s were hot on the trail of the Blaue Reiter and went to the Lenbachhaus to enjoy a large collection of expressionist art work. We included a visit to the summer palace, Schloss Nymphenburg, which was basking in glorious sunshine. Highlights included the Schönheitsgalerie, gallery of beauties, along with the court carriages and porcelain museum.

Group visits took in the Deutsches Museum, Europe’s largest science and technology museum as well as the highlight of going to Salzburg on Mozart’s trail including his Wohnhaus, wandering through the Mirabellgarten, which is a location used in the Sound of Music. Sadly we didn’t sing and dance through this park, we trotted through avoiding puddles - it nearly always rains when our exchange goes to Salzburg! The high point of this day's excursion is the visit to a salt mine in Berchtesgaden on the border between Austria and Germany. All the key ingredients for a breath-taking visit were there: underground trains, steep wooden slides and a boat trip over a beautiful underground lake.

Although our German exchange students have fluent English, much German was spoken and our students managed to put their language skills into practice in authentic situations, furthermore many connections have been made and long-lasting international friendships.