This weekend a group of students and staff from Leamington’s twin town of Brühl will be visiting Myton School to mark the 30th anniversary of our German-Music exchange with the Kunst-und-Musikschule. Students will be staying with host families from Myton and will be experiencing lessons in school as well as preparing for two joint concerts.
They will give a short lunchtime concert at All Saint’s Church in Leamington at 1pm on Monday 9 October (all are welcome) and a concert in our Upper School Hall at 7pm on Monday evening followed by refreshments. Both concerts are free of charge and families are warmly invited to attend.
This is the reciprocal exchange visit after 22 of our Year 8 to 13 students visited Brühl last month.
This year was a special visit, as we were personally invited by the Mayor of Brühl to take part in the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the twinning of Brühl with Leamington Spa, as well as it being the 30th anniversary of the link between Myton School and the Musikschule. We shared our coach with members of the Leamington International Twinning Society (LITS) who stayed with German hosts while Myton staff and students stayed in a hotel; some students received financial assistance towards the cost of the trip from the LITS Young People’s Fund.
We were greeted on arrival with a reception buffet at the Town Hall where we were welcomed by the Mayor. Students gave musical performances throughout the weekend; at the opening reception, the Saturday commemoration event and official evening dinner on Sunday, with solos by Joseph, Lilly, Anastasiya, Stella and Selena and a rendition of Abba’s Thank You for the Music by members of Myton’s vocal group, which the members of both twinning societies joined in with enthusiastically!
Alongside the civic events, we again had the chance to explore Brühl town centre and castle gardens, visit the Lindt chocolate museum in Cologne and climb the cathedral tower, and spend a sunny day at the Phantasialand theme park. In addition to sampling some fantastic local cuisine at two dinners – provided by Brühl town council on Saturday and the Brühl town twinning society (Förderverein Brühler Städtefreundschaften or FBS) on Sunday – all students spent an evening in the homes of the German students who will be visiting Myton in October. This was a highlight of the trip for many students, with those studying German being able to practise their language skills and everyone enjoying trying new foods and making friends with their German partners.
Despite our return journey being extended by three hours due to bad weather, everyone returned home with wonderful memories of another fantastic trip and full of anticipation for the Musikschule’s return visit to us.
It was a privilege to participate in the Town Twinning celebrations and wonderful as always to see students from different year groups getting to know each other and their German families.
Thank you to the Brühl Town Council for inviting us and contributing towards our accommodation costs, the support of Leamington International Twinning Society, and to Mr Field (Teaching assistant), Ms Lingard (Teacher of German and Spanish), and our Catteralls’ coach driver Mark, who all helped to make the trip such a success. Thank you also to the students for being a credit to Myton School, and to the parents who will be hosting the visiting students.
Trip organiser Ms Harrisson (Head of Music)
Comments from students included:
“An interesting trip that was filled with long lasting memories and lessons. I enjoyed participating in the twinning ceremony and making conversation with people from both twinning societies. This allowed me to learn about the relationships between both the schools and towns over the past 50 years.”
“I really enjoyed spending time with my German student. We went to a cultural festival. We made bracelets, played hook a duck and got my hair braided. I can’t wait until they come over in October. I would want to come again on this trip.”
“The Germany Exchange was amazing! I got to make pizza with my exchange partner, then we played card games and watched a movie, it was really fun and I really can’t wait to invite them all over in October! This trip also brought me confidence on performing and I feel like I want to perform again soon.”
“Thank you for giving me a chance to be part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Brühl and Leamington and also the chance of having fun with friends in a whole different country.”
“It was an amazing trip that connected all of us and made us closer friends. We stayed with our host families one evening and they were very lovely. Yes it was a bit out of my comfort zone but I enjoyed it none the less.”
“Germany was a real adventure for me, I felt so honoured to have been included on the trip and hope I did the school proud. I enjoyed playing Uno with the host family, getting to know my fellow Myton students that I wouldn’t have necessarily socialised with back home. I would recommend this trip to any music students and German students.”
