News

German Visitors from Taunusstein

27th March 2009


The second half of this year's exchange with our partner school, the Gesamtschule Obere Aar in Yeovil's twin town of Taunusstein in Germany took place last week. This link, originally established through Yeovil Twinning Association, has been maintained on a biennial basis for over ten years  and we were delighted to welcome German visitors to The Park for the sixth time. We were able to repay the excellent hospitality experienced during our visit to Germany in the Autumn.

Thirteen young people and their teachers arrived on Monday evening and stayed a full week, benefiting from the warm Spring sunshine to take part in a number of activities.

                                   

Our German visitors with their hosts at the front of school


Our German guests were taken on a guided tour of Dorchester by the Town Crier (in full regalia!) and joined their partners on an outing to Bath, visiting the Roman Baths and the Fashion Museum. While some joined in with Sport on Friday afternoon, others tackled a challenging town trail activity that stretched their language skills as well as enabling our friends from Taunusstein to discover more about Yeovil. They accompanied their partners to lessons on two of the days and acquitted themselves very well. It is hoped that bonds of friendship have been forged that will last for years to come. Indeed, some of the participants were taking part in the exchange for the second time, renewing their friendships with their partners and deepening their knowledge of each other's culture.

The week came to a rousing finale with the traditional international Skittles match. Despite the creative use of substitutions by the British team, Germany were the victors, proving yet again that in this country we are adept at inventing games and even better at allowing the rest of the world to beat us at them!  However, it became apparent that the German team had managed a cross border transfer of a key player - Mr Winter no less, and his sporting prowess tipped the balance in favour of our visitors!

Many thanks to all host parents and pupils, and especially to Mr Winter our Head of Modern Languages, who worked together in making the week such a successful one. We look forward to the next exchange with a visit to Taunusstein scheduled for the Autumn of 2010.