In Presentation Castleisland, Fifth Year Spanish students may have the possibility of doing a cultural exchange with a school in Spain. We have had the great opportunity of doing two cultural exchanges so far; both were a great success and a hugely enriching experience for all involved.
We have an excellent partnership established with a school just outside Madrid, in a little town called Sevilla La Nueva. On both occasions so far, we have travelled to Spain first and spent a wonderful week of education, culture and fun with our welcoming hosts. Our students stay with the family of a Spanish student, thereby totally immersing themselves into the Spanish way of life: they eat Spanish food, speak Spanish to their host families and take part in activities with their hosts. This enables our students to get an excellent insight into life in Spain.
Our students spend a day in the Spanish school, seeing what the school system is like in Spain and then we go on excursions to nearby cities, to visit Royal Palaces, to spend time in the magnificent Parque de Retiro in the city centre, and of course, to do some shopping!
Our Spanish friends normally come to visit us a few weeks later where they will stay with the family of their Irish student. They will spend two days in our school where they attend classes. They are treated to an Irish party where they have a meal and the pleasure of seeing and hearing our talented students playing Irish traditional music and songs and, of course, they join in doing Irish dances which they thoroughly enjoy. They also go surfing and visit the beautiful towns of Dingle and Killarney.
This is a wonderful opportunity for students, teachers and the whole school community and we hope, in the future, to be able to partake in this again.
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