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Enrichment Week - Germany
Monday 18 July 2011
We stayed in a lovely traditional hotel in Treis-Karden near Cochem. Tom Snowball (Year 9) commented in his diary: “It sits in a valley covered in green forest and vineyards. The river Mosel runs down the middle of it and is always occupied with industrial barges. Alongside the river is a train track which follows it to Switzerland.”
On Day 1 pupils had an outdoor German lesson to prepare them for shopping in Cochem. Later we visited a vineyard and had a tour of the cellars and learnt about the industry of wine-making, followed by a small sample of grape juice. It was like a mini Science & Business Studies lesson! Afterwards we went to Marksburg Castle, where pupils learnt the difference between a “Burg” and a “Schloß” (two types of castle) as well as some interesting facts about medieval German history.
On Day 2 we enjoyed a trip to Deutsches Eck to see the confluence of the rivers Mosel and Rhine, before driving past the famous Loreley Rock, where pupils learnt about the legend of the Loreley maiden and drew their own interpretations of this. Later, in the pretty town of Rüdesheim, we had a tour of a mechanical music museum, which Joe Nevin (Year 10) described as “awesome”. That afternoon we sailed down the Rhine on a cruise boat, listening to a commentary and admiring the scenery.
Thursday proved to be very popular as we spent the day at one of Germany’s biggest theme parks. Joe Train (Year 10) said “My overall highlight of the week was Phantasialand. It was amazing.”In the evening pupils practised their German skills by ordering ice-creams at a traditional ice-cream parlour. Laura Anstey (Year 9) commented “I said “Ich möchte ein Schokoladeneis bitte.” I was proud!”.
I was delighted that our pupils made a positive impression on the German hotelier and his wife, who both made a point of telling me that they found our pupils to be “lovely and polite” and “remarkably quiet at night”.
For many pupils it had been their first experience of being abroad, for some it was their first chance to experiment with the German they had learnt in class. They rose to the challenge well! I was especially impressed with the level of effort made by pupils who chose to write their diaries each evening in German. Charlie Davies (Year 10) summed up the trip on nearly every page of his diary: “Es war toll” (It was great).
by Fiona Moss
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