Twenty students who study German in Year 10 and 11 went on a school exchange trip to Ulm in Germany.  This was a new adventure and a unique experience for the boys as they travelled to Germany knowing they would stay on their own in a foreign country with their host family. On arrival at Humboldt Gymnasium, students received a very warm welcome from the headmistress Frau Hinsberger-Boguski, the exchange-coordinator Frau Bacher- Martin, the school’s choir and of course their exchange partners.

After a few icebreaker activities students bonded quickly with their partners and then they left to  spend the afternoon and evening with their host families. During the week students attended several German classes with their partners. The remaining time was filled with an exciting programme. First they got to know the beautiful town of Ulm and climb the highest church tower in the world.

Students visited some local attractions during their stay, including the Mercedes Benz museum in Stuttgart, where visitors learned about how the business was first started by partners Daimler and Benz and saw some iconic cars on display. The group also visited Burg Teck which has a beautiful look-out point and castle and Blautopf which has striking blue pools, due to the chemical composition of the underlying rock.

On the last day. students visited Munich city centre and received a tour of Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena. As you can see, our young learners experienced a broad range of activities to help practice their language and learn more about the culture of Germany. We spoke to a few students about their visit and how the exchange helped their language skills:

Many thanks to our staff Frau Anderson, Frau Kirsch and Mr Ledwich for organising such a great trip. All our students felt truly privileged and blessed to have had the opportunity to participate in this excursion.

Next October our new friends from Ulm will visit Campbell College. We are excited about hosting them and look forward to welcoming them to our school!