German Partnership Exchange : 5th – 9th May 2025

It was an early start on Monday morning to get to Heathrow for our flight to Düsseldorf at 7.10am! The journey to Germany marked the beginning of this year’s German Exchange with further developments in our established partnership with the ‘Gymnasium am Neandertal’ in Erkrath near Düsseldorf. This reciprocal exchange visit is a little different to a traditional Exchange. Our students are matched with a German student of a similar age and with some things in common to help with communication. We stay together in a local youth hostel and travel each day to school using public transport to meet with partners, attend lessons and get involved in joint projects together. Our students were immersed in German culture and customs and were able to use the language learnt in class to find their way. Students explored both Düsseldorf and the town of Erkrath in small groups using a Rallye designed by the German students. We attended lessons, experienced breaks and changes of lessons in school and this year, we were also able to spend an afternoon at the houses of the exchange partners. We visited the well-known Neandertal Museum, funded by our Partner school who are very proud of their Neandertal heritage. Parents organised a BBQ for us next to the lake where the school owns a piece of land and rowing boats. We were invited to try out rowing and for most of us this was the first time, we had sat in a rowing boat. We explored the differences between the school systems and the lives of young people in our two countries. Every day was packed with activities and negotiating many trains, trams, underground trains and buses but we still found time to shop, go to the theme Park @Phantasialand, pop up to the cathedral in Cologne. The photos of our trip will give you a flavour of all we experienced in the beautiful  Neandertal Valley.

We had an additional unplanned experience too. Our British Airways flight home was delayed and finally cancelled meaning we had to stay and extra night in a very nice hotel!  Our students took it all in their stride and were wonderful ambassadors for Presdales. We are looking forward to welcoming their German partners to our school in two weeks time( 1st- 5th June 2025), where they will take part in a similar programme.