This term's Spanish exchange programme in the 13s (Year 9) was a huge success and those involved benefitted greatly from time spent in one another's country.
A group of Harrodian pupils in our 13s (Year 9) were lucky enough to secure a place on this year's Spanish exchange. Organised by the Head of Spanish Teresa Alsedo, 13 Harrodian pupils were allocated a Spanish exchange partner from the Vera Cruz school in Vitoria, the capital of the Basque Autonomous Community in northern Spain. They spent one week in Spain (from 13th March to 20th) and then returned to London together with their Spanish counterparts for the second week (20th to 27th March).
Teacher of Spanish Cristina Obispo Navarro and language assistant Miriam Gonzalez accompanied the group to the Vera Cruz school and on day-time trips and activities in and around the Vitoria area, but at the end of each day Harrodian pupils went home to the families of their exchange partners and were able to experience Spanish family life.
Seeing the enthusiastic reaction of our Spanish exchange partners on arriving in London and at Harrodian made us feel even more grateful for what we have, even if the weather here is rather more grey and much colder!
Felix and Agatha, 13s Harrodian pupils on the Spanish exchange
Most days started with a morning of Spanish school followed by a coach ride to a different location for some sightseeing or a fun activity. Their first trip took them to the resort town of San Sebastian on the Bay of Biscay where they enjoyed a sunny walk around the centre and a tour of the old part, visiting the churches, squares and museums with some free time walking along the beautiful beach.
On another day, they stayed a bit closer to home and visited the city centre of Vitoria where they were welcomed by the Mayor in City Hall.
Improvements in listening and oral language skills, as well as mastering the accent, are bound to be some of the benefits of such a trip.
Head of Spanish Teresa Alsedo
The group also travelled north to Bilbao to visit the town and the well-known Guggenheim Museum. 
They enjoyed a gastronomic workshop together with their exchange partners at the school during which they were shown how to be make 'talo' - corn bread filled with chorizo or cheese.
This is the first language exchange at Harrodian in 15 years and we couldn't have hoped for it to go better. I was very pleased to meet the students of Vera Cruz School and I am hoping this will be the spark that triggers more language exchange programmes at Harrodian in the future
Headmaster James Hooke
On the last day of their trip, the whole group came together to take part in a treasure hunt and football match before leaving for London.
On arrival at Harrodian, the Spanish group was welcomed by Headmaster Mr Hooke, below, who enjoyed the opportunity to practise his Spanish. He introduced himself and said a big thank you to all the teachers involved for making the exchange possible and he also told them who they could go to if they had any questions or needed help with anything.
Whilst in London, our visitors were able to take in many of the sights of the capital including St. Paul's, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus, the London Eye, the Natural History Museum, the V&A Museum, Hyde Park, and Buckingham Palace. They also enjoyed a special day trip to Windsor Castle, followed by a tour of the Harrodian Express Your Culture Day in the marquee, see below.
On speaking to Agatha and Felix and their Spanish exchange partners, Maria and Pablo, it is obvious from how comfortable they are in one another's company that the exchange has been a huge success. Maria and Pablo are so enthusiastic about being in London and are in awe of the size of Harrodian and the number of different activities on offer, that they say they want to stay for longer.
Agatha tells me about how one of the lessons at Vera Cruz School was conducted in Basque dialect which made it 'very hard to follow' but how she greatly enjoyed sampling the local tapas called 'pintxos.' Felix meanwhile points out how he spoke more Spanish in the evenings when he was at home with his host family because they didn't speak much English. Both agree that the enthusiastic reaction of their Spanish counterparts on arriving in London and seeing the beautiful grounds of the Harrodian made them even more grateful for what they have, even if the weather here is rather more grey and much colder!
From a language perspective, Head of Spanish Teresa Alsedo says that one of the benefits is that pupils on the exchange programme will have attuned their ear to the Spanish/English language by having to listen so hard over an extended period. 'Improvements in listening and oral language skills, as well as mastering the accent , are bound to be just some of the benefits of such a trip,' she states.
Meanwhile Headmaster James Hooke is also clearly overjoyed by the success of the exchange when he says, 'this is the first language exchange at Harrodian in 15 years and we couldn't have hoped for it to go better. I was very pleased to meet the students of Vera Cruz School and I am hoping this will be the spark that triggers more language exchange programmes at Harrodian in the future.'
For more photos of the Spanish Exchange Trip