On 3rd April 2011, Beth and I set off to Hannover with 4 pupils; Gemma, Sarah, Becky and Becca. We spent a week in Lehre, visiting the school there and working on our Comenius project.
The girls stayed with host families and Beth and I stayed in the hotel in Lehre along with Anna, the Latvian teacher, the 2 Italian teachers, Maria Rosa and Aurore and the Latvian girls.
This link will take you to our Germany photos Germany
This is one of the articles that was published in the local paper about our trip. 110405 Zum Abschied gibt es ein Buffet mit Spezialitäten aus fünf Ländern
On 2nd April, four intrepid Gairloch High School pupils – Sarah MacKenzie, Gemma Urquhart, Rebecca Dreisbach-Pollington (all S4) and Rebecca Griggs (S3) - set off from Inverness airport for Hannover, Germany, on the second of our school’s Comenius Partnership visits.
Accompanied by the equally intrepid teachers Beth Hunter and Alison Campbell, the girls had signed up to stay with German families for the week in the small town of Lehre, about 2 hours’ drive from Hannover along Germany’s busiest autobahn.
Arriving late at night in Lehre, the girls were whisked away to their respective families after being told loud and clear by the German teacher that they would be expected in school at 7.45 the next morning. It would be safe to say that there were 4 slightly long faces…
However, by the next day, the girls were bright and cheery, enjoying a history lesson in German and helping the German pupils with English conversation lessons. That day the rest of the Comenius students arrived and our girls were introduced to and were soon chatting away with the Italians, the Greeks and the Latvians as well as their German hosts.
During the week, there were many activities. Our partnership project is entitled “Our forefathers’ regional cultural and historical heritage”, and as their part in this, the German group are studying the aftermath of WW2 , how Germany was divided and the effect this had on everyday life.
Henning, one of the German teachers, had prepared a history lesson for the Comenius students on the Berlin Wall and how the division of Germany affected families and friends. Later in the week there was a visit to Marienborn, which was the location of the busiest border checkpoint during the division of the country. This border crossing was in use until 1990 and it is still possible to see how the crossing point was organised, with look-out towers, a secret tunnel and all sorts of surveillance equipment. There was also a visit to Höldenburg, where part of the east-west wall remains.
Mornings were spent in school, with pupils and staff getting involved in lessons. Classes for the day finished between 12 and 1pm and the afternoons were spent visiting the area.
Lehre itself is a pretty little village; though not a tourist centre, it boasts some nice restaurants and a lovely gift shop. There were also a few Hanovarian horses in the stables near the village, as well as a black Shetland pony called Franz.
The nearest towns are Braunschweig, which has retained its beautiful medieval centre despite heavy bombing during WW2, and Wolfsburg, where the VW factory employs in excess of 20,000 people. The German pupils had prepared a guided tour of the historic centre of Braunschweig, and in Wolfsburg the attractions were the Science centre and the VW factory.
On Wednesday there was an official welcome in Lehre Town Hall, or Rathaus as the girls soon called it. The mayor provided soft drinks and sweets and spoke at some length about the town, its inhabitants and its main industries.
All too soon the final evening arrived which was an evening in the school, with a meal consisting of a selection of dishes typical to each country. The Italians made lots of tiramisu, the Germans made pasta salad and frankfurters, the Latvians prepared a sort of deepfried doughnut with soft cheese filling, our girls made a wonderful Scotch Broth and Crannachan and the Greeks, of course, made Greek salad.
All the host families and pupils were there, as well as staff from the German school, and the evening was very noisy, great fun, with the food disappearing fast and lots of people asking for the recipe for the wonderful Scotch Broth.
Henning then surprised all the groups by presenting eveyone not only with Comenius certificates, but also with t-shirts printed with the project logo which was designed by one of the Italian pupils. All in all, it was an excellent evening and a fitting end to such an enjoyable week.
Now we look forward to welcoming the other schools to Gairloch in October, and offering them all the same great hospitality which was so forthcoming in both Latvia and Germany.
In the meantime, if you would like to know more about the Comenius partnership, there will be a German Evening in the High School on Wednesday 22nd June, where the 4 girls will show some photos of their visit and pupils studying German will perform songs and sketches. We will have music supplied by Ms Hunter and former pupils Ella McDonagh and Alasdair Paul, as well as typical German refreshments. A fun evening for all the community, your support will be welcomed and we look forward to seeing you there.
Day 1 travelling to Germany Day 2 Germany Monday
Day 3 Lehre and beyond Day 4 – Lehre and Wolfsburg Day 5 – Marienborn
We enjoyed the final evening – here are some of our group
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwQy89tPXXk
and Henning and Gerd presented everyone with Comenius Certificates of Attendance as well as a surprise t-shirt printed with our group logo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8gUGC7hnkA
