SEDBERGH-BAYREUTH GERMAN EXCHANGE VISIT LEAVES ON SATURDAY

On Saturday a group of 15 pupils in Year 10 to 13 head to Bayreuth, Germany, for a German Exchange visit.  Pupils from Graf-Münster-Gymnasium, a Grammar School, will visit Sedbergh in March.

Head of Modern Foreign Languages Andrew Loughe said: “The advantages of pupils experiencing a School Exchange are indisputable. The linguistic development and cultural awareness they gain from the experience will stand them in good stead for their exams and future study, whether or not they go on to study German at A Level or at undergraduate level. The group are well prepared for the visit and are all very excited.”

The group includes Emily Braithwaite, Emily Chiu, Megan Clifton, Oliver Cope, Molly Davies, Adele Fairclough, Felicity Fairclough, Marc Fletcher, Rosie Herman, Ruby Page, Charlie Papworth, Elizabeth Sladden, Jed Sykes, Beatriz Terres Onate and Imogen Thompson. Mr Loughe will lead the exchange visit with Mrs Goodman and you can follow updates on the visit on @Sed_MFL – when Signal allows.

The week-long visit will begin with a day spent with host families, then lessons at GMG and a tour of the town and opera house. On Tuesday, pupils will visit Mödlareuth, the village that was divided by a wall during the Cold War, followed by a summer sledge run and ice skating in the evening. A visit to Nuremberg with Sedbergh and German pupils precedes the penultimate day in school and a tour of the Maisel brewery. Pupils will end the visit with a farewell dinner for all pupils.

Graf-Munster-Gymnasium began as a commercial school for boys in 1833 and today is a co-educational secondary grammar school with 1250 pupils. The School’s name originates from the Earl George of Munster, who lived in Bayreuth in the 19th Cenutry.

A geologist, Earl George of Munster discovered nothosaurus mirabilis, the world’s first complete fossilised dinosaur. The School regularly has excellent basketball teams, coming third in the national championships in 2011.

The School maintains exchanges with two schools in France, one in Australia, and has a partner school in Spain. There are two choirs, an orchestra, Big Band and a robotics group which has received a number of prizes for its excellent work. Pupils cooperate with Siemens and take part in SINUS programme – a German equivalent STEM programme.

The School has a swimming pool, two large modern gyms (one with a climbing wall), a football pitch, athletics tracks and beach volleyball facilitities. In addition, pupils have the opportunity to take up pentathalon.

Sedbergh is delighted to be taking pupils to Germany at a time when in other schools German is in decline as an academic discipline, as reported in today’s Telegraph.

http://gmg-bayreuth.de – Graf-Münster-Gymnasium

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/11412441/Dramatic-decline-in-number-of-university-students-taking-modern-foreign-languages.html

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