El intercambio en la revista del Bishop Heber...

SPANISH EXCHANGE – MARCH 2009

It was 8 pm on a cold, windy Sunday evening, with 27 excited young people eagerly anticipating the arrival of their Spanish partners.

27 students and 3 teachers have spent 10 days staying with host families, participating in lessons and visiting a variety of attractions.

Lessons have included science-extracting DNA from onions, protecting the environment in citizenship and in year 11, 12 and 13 Spanish lessons, bilingual icebreakers, helping exam classes to prepare for speaking exams, “earth” music and learning to make animations in Flash, using online training movies from eheber.

A highlight for us all was ‘Oliver’. Although the students found it difficult to follow the words, they were as enthralled as the rest of the audience by the music, choreography and sheer enthusiasm of the participants. It was a very special evening for all of us.

Although this is the 15th exchange, we have never before taken our guests to visit Chester Zoo. This year could not be a better time to start a new tradition, as one of the environmental concerns expressed by a significant number of students was the extinction of rare species. All agreed that the Zoo provides informed insight into endangered species and highlights threats in the wild. Other highlights included the Maritime Museum in Liverpool and the Darwin museum in Shrewsbury (not to mention the shops in both cities-an extra attraction this year because of the strength of the euro against the pound.

On Thursday afternoon, one of the teachers asked whether it would be possible to obtain Spanish Exchange “hoodies” for the Spanish group. AlthoughI was convinced the time scale was too short, I phoned Brian Gresty at Whitchurch Sports who delighted us by pulling out all the stops to get the “hoodies” to us by Tuesday afternoon. We are thrilled to have given the young people yet another symbol of their unity and the way the exchange continues to
break down barriers.

We are delighted to award this year’s “Antonia’s award”, for the pupil who has embodied the spirit of the exchange, to Jo Bilcliffe. Special thanks are also due to Heidi Groom, Louise Blazey, Amy Greenhaugh, the Year 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 Spanish classes, and Will Taylor, who conducted the most original school tour yet! Thanks too to all the parents, without whom the exchange would not be possible.
Mrs J Moxon