Express & Star

Black Country students' language skills highlighted in trip to Germany

Students at a Black Country school have been praised for giving English classes to their counterparts in Germany as part of a week-long work experience trip.

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Youngsters from the High Arcal School took part in the placement held around the city of Oldenburg.

It was organised by staff along with partner school The Academy of English. Getting a placement was a tough task with students having to submit applications to the Academy of English for scrutiny. Only six applicants got placements.

The selected students were placed in a range of schools around Oldenburg as English language assistants.

And alongside helping teachers they also prepared and gave English classes to German students.

Learning manager for the Academy of English Ina Gean said: "The quality of the applications was so impressive it made our decision-making very difficult indeed."

One of the High Arcal students and intern at the Graf-Anton-Günter School, Mia Rogers, praised the German work placement programme.

"It was an excellent opportunity to see English being taught and to teach English at a German grammar school."

Lead co-ordinator of the German work experience programme, Miss Tracy Goodyear, said: "The students did extraordinarily well coming to a different country and teaching the English language to non-native speakers."

She also praised the dedication of the host-stay families who pulled out all the stops to make the students feel welcome and give them a taster of home-stay life.

Celebrating the ties between the two institutions, the High Arcal students also hosted a public event at the Academy of English during their stay.

Students delivered presentations and received an ovation from the German audience.

Following the success of the placements, High Arcal and the Academy of English are already planning next year's work experience placements.

Students will get the opportunity to work in companies in and around Oldenburg in the summer of 2015.

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