Following on from the successful Italian exchange week at Gosforth Academy in September, last week Gosforth Academy hosted our German exchange from Heidelberg for the first time in collaboration with the MFL department at Great Park Academy.
After a weekend spent at our amazing host families, the exchange went on a joint trip to Dunstanburgh Castle, where students were able to get to know each other before being quizzed on their respective partners and their likes and dislikes on beach. We learned a bit about the medieval castle, the feuds and border disputes in its time and its artistic depiction in romanticism in preparation for our return visit to Heidelberg, where we will visit a medieval German castle.
The German students also explored British culture and heritage in trips to Beamish, Durham, York and Segedunum before experiencing a day at a British school and saying good-bye with a fun-filled party.
We have applied for a grant to help with the funding of this exchange via the UK-German Connection and hope that our return trip to Germany in July 2025 will once again be the most affordable trip abroad for our schools.
We would like to thank our parents and students who hosted this year’s German exchange and gave such an authentic insight into life in Britain to our guests. We are now looking forward to getting a glimpse of life in Germany and fostering our newly-forged cross-border friendships.