Students at Saint Gregory’s School have celebrated the 10th anniversary year of their exchange partnership programme with IES Grupo Cántico School in Córdoba. To mark the occasion, both schools have been engaged in a series of events throughout the year to recognise the significant impact this programme has had on hundreds of young people, since its inception in 2009.
Earlier this week, students from Saint Gregory’s welcomed their Córdoba Exchange counterparts from IES Grupo Cántico School in Córdoba, introducing them to the World Heritage City of Bath and welcoming them into their homes and family lives. Whilst staying in Bath, Spanish students sampled life at Saint Gregory’s school whilst also taking in many local tourist attractions that the area has to offer.
This year, 52 students from across both schools will take part in the exchange, organised by staff at Saint Gregory’s as part of their commitment to their International School status.
Students took part in a range of activities and lessons, learning about British education and culture, as well as honing their language skills and helping to improve their knowledge and proficiency in English. Earlier this year, St Gregory’s students visited their exchange partners and their families in Córdoba, forming friendships and gaining memories and experiences of Spanish culture.
Spanish Teacher and co-ordinator of the exchange partnership at Saint Gregory’s, Mrs Catherine Gregory, said, “We are thrilled that our longstanding partnership with IES Grupo Cántico continues and we hope that the friendships and passion for each other’s languages and cultures that are developed during our exchange, will last a long time into the future. We hope that through international partnerships, such as this, students can experience British school and home life, try new foods, meet partner families and spend time getting to know each other better whilst improving their language skills.”
Headmistress, Ms Ann Cusack, added, “Our international partnerships help our students prepare themselves as global citizens, and to become more aware of social, economic and political issues that affect people across the world. The Córdoba Exchange continues to strengthen and develop the long-established partnership between Saint Gregory’s Bath and IES Grupo Cántico School in Córdoba. We are delighted to once again welcome students and staff to our school, in this, our 10th anniversary of shared partnership.”
Saint Gregory’s has recently been awarded the British Council’s International School Award. The award celebrates the achievements of schools that do exceptional work in international education and recognises the school’s commitment to giving all students a wide variety of opportunities to become involved in global education projects and broaden their knowledge and appreciation of different cultures.