Wymondham College

A group of Wymondham College Year 9 students and staff are currently visiting a school in Prague. They are writing a blog about their experiences.

Day  - 1sorry about spelling and punctuation but i§m using a cyech kez board.

The fist suprise of the morning was the early wake up and breakfast. We went to breakfast and were greeted by plus 25 temperatures already. Next it was a brisk walk off to the theatre for assembely which was slightly informal and accopannied by cool singing to start the day. Mr Boorman greeted the hall in czech and we noticed the extent of his vocabulary, two words. Then we were thrown straight into the deep end with science. We were split into groups, one wymondham student per group and we had to investigate all of the different scientific aspects of grass. Physics, for example, had to invesigate why the grass is green and measure the atmospheric pressure to do with grass. I found it difficult as all of the people in my group were reluctant to communicte with me in english. Finally we had to present a conclusion to why the grass is green. This was the most difficult part and I was shaking like a leaf but I got through it fine. I enjoyed presenting my work as it was a new experience.I think the presentations were verz different to what the audience was expecting as thez expected us to concentrate on the team work and cooperation of the grouos rather than just the conclusions like wwe are used to.

After a verz saltz lunch we plazed skipping games in PE and re grouped in the theatre for an art and music workshop. This consisted of forcing verz reluctant students to song beatles songs especiallz for us which was a little embaressing but when we split off into music and art it was a little less put on. i went into msic which was again awkward as the teacher couldu§t speek english and so everzone dd there best but we had to end p ging la la la along to the song as we could pronounce the lzrics. We also got to have a listen to some popular cyech music which to us sounded like a novellty records.

After tea we went into the forest. thew waalk was like a post card periwinkle blue sky, emerald trees and we had to walk through a filed full of golden bales to get there. In the forest we set about building a bridge which was a great test of tam work althoughthe bridge was not finished in time it was a lovelz jaunt.
Ester Breij


Day 2

We have sorted out the keyboard so there's now no excuse for any mistakes and also Mr Boorman has doubled his Czech vocabulary, he knows how to say please too!

Today we met up with another Czech school, a gymnasium (grammar school) in Kutna Hora. We had a tour of the school and met their pets, a boa constrictor, and the school mascot, an iguana called cico. Some of us had a tour of the cultural sites of the city including the mint. We were lucky enough to visit the St Barnabas' Cathedral which was started in the 13th century and finished in 1905. It was completely paid for the by silver miners of the area. After the tour we drove to Sedliec and walked to the ossuary . The ossuary is a chapel completely decorated in human bones. Inside we had a debate about whether it was right to do this or not. Mr Boorman felt that it was wrong and many people felt a bit creeped out in there. However, I felt that they were art and so the bones were just a material as they obviously had no soul. It was an interesting trip for all.

After school we prepared for a school council meeting. How wrong we were! Instead we were taken to the students' private bar and sat round playing rounds of poker! Our table was also treated to a magic show from our dealer who also taught us how to cheat in a casino! We all had different playing styles but the most effective one of all was Grace's: bluff like anything! 

Day 3

In assembly today we were introduced to the languages lessons in Open Gate. We were split into groups which depended on the languages that we take which are Spanish, French and German. I was in th Spanish group with mixed students in Wymondham and Open Gate. We are all sitting in a circle and playing games which actually made all the students get involved in the class more. However, I think the Spanish students in Open Gate speak much better Spanish than us. Also, their teacher spoke a lot of Spanish in class, which is very hard for us to understand.

Afterwards, we looked at some of the presentations about Human Rights in the Czech Republic which were presented by the Czech students. Many of the powerpoints and videos are about the Romanie which was a good opportunity for us to learn more about their culture and history. After the lunch, we had a PE lesson and the boys played football in the sports hall while the girls swam. We played water polo in the pool and we all had a great fun. At about six o'clock, we all met at the main gate of the school and went to the Black Theatre with two of Open Gate's British teachers.

There was a serious traffic jam so it took us nearly 2 hours to get to the tram station and the journey was only supposed to be 20 minutes. When we arrived to the theatre, there were not many people and I therefore, didn't expect it would be good at all. However, it turned out to be great. Their stage was really simple but their acting were very professional. This was also another good opptunity for us to understand more about the Czech culture which everyone of us really enjoyed. When the show fnished, many of us were really hungry, so we went to KFC. A lot of us ordered big buckets of chicken to eat on the way back to the school, even Mr.Boorman did as well.

 

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