Environmental campaigns

In the English Workshop at the moment 3º ESO pupils are learning about and discussing environmental problems and their possible solutions. Click here to listen to an audio recording of three mini-presentations about environmental campaigns designed and presented by the pupils themselves. Thanks to Alejandra, Adriana, Carlota, Gabriela, Gonzalo and Victoria for their input!

A year in the Midlands

Here is another account of a pupil who spend last year living and studying abroad. This is from Nicolás, now back here studying 3º ESO, who will tell us about his year in the Birmingham area, in the UK.

Last year I went to England to improve and develop my English. I went to a town near Birmingham called Stourbridge. The school was called Old Swinford Hospital and owned nearly the whole village, so going to the shops included a very big discount, mainly in WH Smith's or Poundland, where the discount was about half the original price.

At a boarding school, not being a boarder would be a disadvantage for your social life or your relationship with the older boarders or sixth formers*. Each house has a housemaster (who is a member of staff) and a head of house (who is a sixth former, who were the most important. A matron was in charge of laundry and acted as the "house's tailor", fixing trousers and shirts like there was no tomorrow.

At school we had very well thought-out breaks placed at the second hour in the morning and at 12 o'clock for lunch. The school was huge and had two different fields, five boarding houses, and a building for each subject, plus administration and the headmaster's office.

The worst experience was playing rugby in December in the rain wearing shorts and losing my gumshield**. The best thing was having a natural grass football pitch next to my house.

In conclusion, it was a great experience. The best tip I can give is to respect the older pupils and get on well with them and the rugby players of your age. And of course to enjoy yourself!


*Sixth form is the last two years of education, the equivalent of Bachillerato.

**Also called a mouthguard. You put it into your mouth in contact sports to protect your teeth.

Advertising workshop with Little Big Kids (1ºESO)

What's a green screen?

Who writes a slogan?

How do you make an ad?

These were some of the questions that pupils of 1ºESO hoped to have answered before their trip to the Little Big Kids advertising workshop last Friday.

In preparation for the trip, we learned and played games with some of the new vocabulary that they would be using at the Little Big Kids studios. 

Here, some of the pupils tell us about their experience.

Sonia & Rocío:

In the Little Big Kids workshop there are 3 activities that consist of:

1. Making a TV ad
   
   
   

2. Creating an ad for the radio
   

3. Inventing an ad for a magazine
   

We learned that you can do a lots of different types of ads. I learned that an ad needs music and a slogan. I learned that making an ad is more difficult than people think.

Marta & Bea:

In the television ad our group made an ad for Doctor Pepper. The teachers that were in that class were Timisha and David. The other groups did other advertisements for trainers, cookies and sun cream. We have learned a lot of vocabulary and how people make ads.

In the radio ad our group had to make an advertisement for a car (Ferrari). The other groups did other things like perfume, supermarket, gym and an energy drink. The teachers that were in that class were Edmund and David. We have learned how people work and how to write a radio advertisement.

In the magazine activity we advertised cereals. All the group did different kinds of cereal like Corn Flakes, Choco Krispies, and Frosties. We did the pictures on a blackboard and wrote slogans. The teachers that were in that class were Timisha and David.

Carla & Lola:

We liked the experience because it was very fun. We liked all the activities and the best part was when we did the slogans.

Guille & Claudio:

All three activities were fun but the best one was the TV ad.

A year in the south of England

Here is the latest in our series written by our pupils who have returned from spending a year abroad. Here, Soledad (3ºESO) tells us all about her time near Bath, in the south of England.

Last year I went to study abroad. I went to the United Kingdom, to the south of England. It was a school called Warminster, in the town of the same name, near the city of Bath. I lived in the school, as a boarder.

The school was really big; all the different subjects, dining halls, boarding houses and speech rooms had their own entire building with many classrooms in some cases. There were five boarding houses: two for older boys, one for younger boys, one for older girls and one for younger girls. I lived in the one for the younger girls but I was one of the oldest in the house.

On school days we woke up at 7am, got dressed into our uniforms and walked to the dining hall to have breakfast. Then we came back, packed our bags and went to school. We got registered and sent to lessons. We had one lesson and a break, two lessons after and then lunch break from 1pm to 2.15pm. Then we got registered again and had two more lessons with a break in the middle before finishing school at 5 o'clock. When we got back to the house we got changed into normal clothes, which we called 'mufti', and went to have supper. Then we came back, got registered again, and had to do homework, which we called 'prep', and had free time that we normally used to cook or watch movies. We went to sleep at half past nine.

On weekends, we woke up at 8am on Saturdays, did prep and played sport matches against other schools, and then went to town to buy things and hang out in the different shops. It was small but we enjoyed town. Then we had a free evening. We didn't have a fixed bedtime. On Sundays we woke up at 9am, went to church and had lunch. Then we usually had trips, for example to the cinema, and a free evening again. 

I really liked my year there because I made a lot of friends and got very good grades too. The food was great as well. The lessons were different and I liked them a lot. Also, boarding was great, it was like a pyjama party every day! The only thing I didn't like was coming to Spain so often because I don't enjoy packing suitcases and bags!

Debating Society audio

In this week's Debating Society (1º bachillerato) four pupils debated whether social media networks promote diversity or not. It was probably the highest quality debate held to date, both from a debater and an audience point of view. Well done to Marta, Juan, Eva and Laura! Listen to a sample of the debate here:

Listen to the sum-up speeches on Soundcloud.com

A year in Scotland

Here is the second account of a pupil returning to our school from a year spent living abroad, this time from Pablo (3º ESO).


My story begins on the 4th August 2015 at 2pm, when I realised I was going to live in another country, Scotland (Glasgow to be exact), for a year.

I had that kind of sensation that you have when you don't know how it's going to be, if you can do it, and if you are going to like the place. I had to take two planes, one to London and another one to Glasgow, and then a taxi to my new house. My first view of Glasgow was good. For one day we had no rain, but then the next few days were different in many ways. It started raining every day. And it stopped for an hour and then it could rain again or be cloudy, or even snow. They called it four seasons in one day.

But let's focus. After two weeks I started school with my brother. It was really different from Spain! First, you had to move from one class to another instead of waiting for the teacher in one class. Next, the way of teaching was really different. The teachers interacted so much with the pupils. And they prepared so many things for the students to do, like class projects, games or even contests.

I have to admit that the first day was probably the worst one. You are new in a school where you don't know everyone (probably no one). In Scotland you don't have the same name for the school years as in Spain. For example 1ºESO is called S1, which means Secondary 1. It goes from S1 to S6, but when you pass to S5 and S6 they call it Senior 5 or 6. Apart from that everything is the same at school.

Back to normal life, my family and I moved into a bigger house one month later. Now and then we visited the city centre and its shops and museums. One of the most famous museums is the Kelvingrove Museum, near the university. It has so many art works, sculptures, fossils and animals - there's a wide variety of things.

In school you had a subject called drama, which is basically theatre. You had to act like a real actor, in different situations and places. It was really fun! Also you could choose different subjects at the end of S2, which was quite good. 

One of my last experiences at school was when, at the end of the year, we went to Blackpool Pleasure Beach, a theme park in the north of England. We went for the whole day and I really enjoyed it! That was one of my last days at school, but on my last day there was an assembly at the school church where diplomas were given to people if they had made an effort and they had got good marks.

Sometimes I miss that school. But after that I visited Scotland, from the west to the east, and it was good. You got to know a different culture, place, cities, people, history and friends. So my journey ended on the 1st August 2016, when I had to go back to Madrid. That's when you notice that a year has passed and you have lived a new experience and you have changed.

European Union "Crash Course"

How are EU laws made?

Is the Interrail train pass going to be free?

Will Brexit really happen?

How does a country join the EU?

These were some of the questions posed by our pupils at the start of today's "EU Crash Course", which they were able to answer by the end. The morning-long workshop was kindly provided by the European Youth Parliament España. If you recognise the name of this organisation then it's because our school participated in their Madrid debate session at the beginning of the year. 

Every year over 30,000 pupils from 4ºESO or 1ºBach (or their equivalents in other countries) take part in these debates, but this event was different. Two of their young volunteers, Clara and Laura, came to help our students learn about the EU in a fun and educational way, through a variety of group games and activities, almost all in English, conducted through the peer-to-peer method, in which students help each other learn mutually.

Some of our 4º ESO pupils doing a group activity to learn about the European Union.

We started with an activity in which the pupils had to move to a different part of the room according to their opinion of different questions. For example, the first one: 
Europe makes you think of...
a. a geographical continent
b. lots of cultures and languages
c. the EU
d. Events like Eurovision or the Champions League

This was a great way to break the ice and get thinking about the subject of Europe. Then, split into smaller groups, the pupils had to read into one of the key ideas connected with the EU - prosperity, peace, freedom, law and democracy - and explain their relevance to the other groups. They went on to look more in-depth at how the different institutions - the European Parliament, the European Council, the European Commission and the Council of Ministers - interact and how we can try to influence their decisions. The pupils then tried to apply their new knowledge to construct a diagram of the legislative set-up of the EU using plastic laminates. At the end we went over the answers to some of the questions posed by the pupils earlier.

We'd like to thank Clara, Laura and the EYPE for their time and interest, and for hopefully inspiring a new wave of future EYPE participants!

Beautiful landscapes & landforms

In 3º ESO we have been studying physical geography in the English workshop. Here are some of our pupils' recommendations for places to visit where you can see beautiful landscapes and amazing landforms.


The Perito Moreno glacier (Victoria & Carlota)

It is located in southern Argentina. You can get there by plane travelling to a town called Calafate. There are many different trips but the best one is a bus trip to a port located in a natural park where you take a boat to the glacier. You put crampons on your shoes and spend the whole morning walking and taking pictures on the glacier. At the end of the trip they give whiskywith ice from the glacier to the adults.


Asturias (José Luis & Gonzalo)

Asturias is the most beautiful place in Spain, in our opinion. It is very green, with a mountain range called Picos de Europa, lots of nice beaches and high cliffs with great views. There are also big forests with a lot of vegetation, animals and dark caves, like the Tito Bustillo caves, with its prehistoric paintings. The climate is rainy and the temperature isn't as hot as in Madrid. To sum up, Asturias is a very good place to go to, with lots of landforms and a perfect temperature for the summer.


The Iguazú Waterfalls (Laura & Elena)

The Iguazú Waterfalls, in Brazil and Argentina, are the most impressive waterfalls in South America. You can see them from both countries bacause they are on the border. The trip in which you go around them is amazing because you can admire all the water falling. There is a different trip where you go on a boat under some of the waterfalls and you can see the mountains and landscape all around.


Can you recommend somewhere similarly beautiful or spectacular for us to visit? Please leave a comment if so!

Accounts of a year abroad

Periodically this year we will bring you the account of a pupil from our school who has returned from a year spent living abroad. The first one is from Leticia (3º ESO), but watch this space for several more in the future!


Last year I went to England to study a full academic year. I went to a town an hour away from London called Marlow.

This place was a modern town with a really high level, as a two-bedroom flat could cost a million pounds. The town was well cared for as in the streets there wasn't any rubbish and in the parks there was always someone clearing the rubbish or leaves that fell from the trees. As for the shops, they were alright for a town of this size. In the high street there were food, stationery and clothes shops and also a few cafés.

The flat that I lived in with my Dad, as he works there, was big enough for two. It's a small apartment with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room.

I went to a public school in the town, ten minutes from where I lived. The school was enormous. They had it organised into blocks, which we would move between according to the subject. For lunch we had a canteen, where you could buy food or bring your own lunch to eat. At break when the weather was good we went to a huge field where people played or sat and talked. School started at 9 o'clock and finished at 3 o'clock, which was perfect for after-school activities and then to do your homework.

I had an amazing time there with my father, who I was lucky to have there if I needed something. Even though I had my father, I missed the rest of my family, which was the worst aspect of the year. In conclusion, I had lots of fun and it's an experience I will never forget.

Space (1ºESO)

We have just had a great week in the English Workshop with the first group of new 1ºESO pupils, who are just starting a very important new phase in their lives - secondary school. 

After learning about each other a little in the first class, we spent the rest of the week looking at space and the Solar System through different activities in English, such as a quiz and a video listening. 

The final part of the week was dedicated to producing the content you can see below: some fantastic space-related games and curiosities to practise your English and learn something new! Please leave a comment to let us know what you think!

First, check out these curiosities about space, prepared by Claudia, Laura, and Malena:

Harald and Álvaro made this space-related wordsearch. Try to find the words!

The following fun quiz was designed by Jimena & Paloma:

And finally, can you solve the crossword?

The Biggest Year of our Lives

The oldest students in the school, who have just started their final school year ("2º de Bachillerato"), have been reflecting on this exciting and challenging time of their lives. They have been thinking specifically about their hopes and fears of what promises to be a very tough but, hopefully, equally rewarding time of their lives. Please spare a thought for these pupils and wish them all the best to help them get through this difficult year. Read on to get an idea of what is going through their minds at the moment!

Estela

Starting school is harder to do when the year you are about to start is 2º bach. Nobody talks about this year in a good way. So many hopes and fears, but the biggest hope for this whole school year is to be happy, and not stressing out, because that's my biggest worry.

Talking about my future, I haven't planned anything yet. There are so many degrees I don't know about and I want to be sure about what to study for the next five years. I would love to be a lawyer and I also love business, like my father, so I may study a double degree in business and law, perhaps in English.

There is something I am sure I want to do, and it is to go out of Spain one year and study abroad. I think that's something that everyone should take. 

In conclusion, I think that in the next year there are so many big and important decisions mthat we, eighteen-year-old teenagers, have to take, and that we have to be careful, as some decisions can lead to our happiness and others to our future sadness!

Ángeles

One of the biggest aims I have for this year is to be able to have a high enough grade at the end of the course, thus having a wider range of options to choose from when selecting a degree.

My biggest fear is not being able capable of combining studying with going out with friends and family, as well as not keeping up to date with school work. What is more, another problem would be not knowing what the final exam for getting into university is going to be be like, as it is far harder to prepare for something that has never taken place.

I don't really know what I want to study in the future, but it would definitely be something related to maths and physics, which are my favourite subjects.

Another of my future ideas is to study in the Polytechnic University, and I would be grateful if I got to study one of the degree years in another country, like the United States. This way I would not only have the Spanish perspective of my degree, but also from another important part of the world.

Finally, it would be a great opportunity to study in Germany, but also a real challenge, as I consider German really hard to understand, thus it would take me more than a couple of months to get used to this language, never being able to speak perfectly.

Jorge

Second bach seems to be the hardest school year, as I've heard from lots of friends that have gone through this situation before me.

To be honest I'm not really worried about this year, even though I know that I will need to study a lot and be very well organised in order to finish my year with good grades and achieve my future plans.

My main concern is to be accepted in the university I want to get into, so I'd say that's my biggest challenge this year. Another problem which I find difficult to deal with are the exams held every three months, because they require a great deal of studying and preparation.

Furthermore, this year is very important for the reason that we are doing our leaving certificate and a lot of our future will rely on it.

Summer English resources for pupils and parents

Here are some recommendations for anyone looking to practise their English while doing something fun or interesting over the summer. All of the following resources are free and available online.

Current affairs topics

See the following places for information about recent events:

BBC Newsbeat

(all ages)

BBC news directed at younger people, and explained in simpler terms.

"Brexit"

Latest news

(all ages)

The latest news about the historical "Brexit", the decision made by the UK to leave the European Union. Includes news articles and explanatory videos.

Analysis

(Bachillerato & older)

This is an academic blog about European affairs. It has a lot of impartial analysis about the "Brexit" and how it may affect the future of both the UK and EU.

Shakespeare 400th Anniversary

(all ages)

This link will take you to our blog article from April this year celebrating the 400^th Anniversary of Shakespeare's death. At the bottom you will find several links to different resources concerning Shakespeare's life and works.

US Presidential elections 2016

(all ages)

"For Dummies" A site which summarises the key beliefs of the Democrats and the Republicans, the main American political parties.

A BBC guide to the election.

A Daily Telegraph guide to the election.

General websites

Keep up to date with the latest Spanish news and sport while learning English:

(all ages)

El País newspaper English version

Think Spain news and sport 

AS sports newspaper English version

Marca sports newspaper English version

'Wait but Why'

(Bachillerato & older)

This is a blog-style website with regular contributions explaining many different topics in a fun and entertaining way. The history of time, why people are sports fans, the future of the human race, how to name a baby, types of friendships, your life in weeks, travelling to the third world, and much, much more.

Futurelearn online web courses

(4ºESO & older)

Futurelearn offers free, short online study programmes. Of particular interest is be the 'Teaching and Studying' section, which has several courses connected with preparing for university, making course/job applications, and doing interviews. There are plenty of other courses on all sorts of topics, like science, history and sport too. I recommend this site to anyone who is considering going to university abroad or just looking to fill their time with something interesting.

Audiovisual resources

Many British & international TV channels live

(all ages)

British Council film archive

(4ºESO & older)

Documentary films online

(4ºESO & older)

TED Talks

(Bachillerato & older)

Fun & games

QuizUp (smartphone app)

(all ages)

Compete in short quizzes on hundreds of different topics against people from all over the world, as you try to earn medals and be the top in your country.

British Council apps http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/apps

(all ages)

Here you will find several mobile apps for all ages, focussing on learning and practising different areas of the English language through fun, games, videos, and more.

I CNSSM Primary Public Speaking Tournament

We recently held our first Public Speaking Tournament, with Primary pupils from 5º and 6º participating in three categories: presentations, the "selling game" and a debate. The audience, in the school chapel, was comprised of the two year groups already mentioned, in addition to several teachers, including a jury made up of four teachers, to decide on the winners and give constructive feedback to all the participants. You could sense the anticipation and nerves in the air as the English teacher Ana López introduced and explained the event to the audience.

The first of the three categories was the presentations. Four pairs, two each from 5º and 6º, made presentations about two themes: "Life at High Latitudes" and "School Life in a Poor Country". They had been given the theme a few weeks previously and had all worked very hard, both in class and out, to prepare the information and photo slideshow, organise the work and practise the public speaking skills that they had been learning throughout this school year.

Next, four pupils (two from each year) had one minute each to demonstrate their persuasive skills by trying to sell an everyday object, as if they were in a market or on a home shopping TV channel. All four did this alone, and used all their ingenuity and humour to convince the jury and audience to buy their product.

Finally, the debate took place between two teams, three pupils from 6º and two from 5º (there was a late withdrawal due to illness). The motion to be debated was "Smartphones are bad for our bodies and minds". The team representing 6º had to defend this proposition, while the pupils from 5º had to argue in favour of their effect on us. The debate was expected to last for just a few minutes, but took on a life of its own as the teams quickly and effectively worked together to counter the points offered by the opposition. In the end it lasted well over ten minutes and due to the high level shown by all of the members, the jury could not decide upon a winning team.

The jury provided feedback to every participant after each section. A constant theme of the feedback from the jury members was their surprise at the ability exhibited by pupils just 11-12 years old (talking not only in front of a large audience, but also what was in most cases not their mother tongue), and the intelligence, ingenuity and creativity shown by each of them. They emphasised the difficulty of deciding on a winning performance such was the high level shown throughout.

It should also be mentioned that the audience was impeccably well-behaved throughout, and showed great interest in the various performances.

After the feedback was given for the debate, the winning performance in each category was announced and the prizes awarded. Then the participants gathered together for photos and to exchange congratulations and observations about the event.

We look forward to hosting this event next year, making small improvements, and hope that it grows year on year, to become yet another loved and respected school tradition in years to come.

Exchange with Lakefield School, Canada

By Celia Arellano, Marta Armada, Lucas Burgos, Álvaro Diez & Leticia Galvín (4ºESO)

In March and April this year, five pupils from 4ºESO took part in our school's exchange programme with Lakefield School (Ontario, Canada). Five of their pupils came to stay in Spain with their exchange partners and their families for three weeks in March, including spending Easter here, and then all ten pupils went to Canada for the return leg in April. Here, our pupils tell us all about their experience.

Tell us about the school and your daily routine

When we arrived we realized the school was huge, in fact the average time to get from one room to another is 5 minutes. The facilities available were huge and amazing; they had tennis courts, soccer and rugby fields skiing slopes, and even a lake! There are a lot of big differences between the two schools. The first one is the location, Lakefield is surrounded by a lake, forest and nature. However Santa María is in the middle of the city. The only buildings that are close to Lakefield are the boarding houses: the village of Lakefield is 15 minutes' walk away. Therefore they have a shop inside school where everyone can buy whatever they need. More people were boarders than day students because this school was in the middle of nowhere.

In Lakefield we didn't really belong to a class, its not like in Spain when you are, for example, in 4ºA. Here every teacher has their own class, and depending on what subjects you've picked, you go to certain teachers' classes. The school is really multicultural, because you can meet lots of people from very different countries, such as India, Mexico, Bangladesh, Korea, etc. This makes LCS very enjoyable, and there is not really a big, important trend that everyone follows, but there are many different interests and points of view from people all around the world.

The typical day at school starts at 8:30am at the Chapel with announcements and grads usually give speeches every day. Classes started at 9:00am, and we only had 4 periods a day (but the classes were 75 minutes long) with an hour and 30 minutes break for lunchtime and rest. We finished school at 3:30pm, except on Wednesdays and Saturdays, which were half-days. On these days we had spare time in the afternoon, and we could go to Lakefield town. After school had finished, at 3:30pm, we had sport, and you could choose from things like football, tennis, hockey, rock climbing, fitness and windsurfing. At 5:30pm was dinner and then the boarders went to our boarding houses and had open houses (time when you can go to whichever house you want). At 8:30pm everyone had to be in their houses and start being ready for bed.

Their educational system is based in proving why what they have learned is that way so basically in classes they do more experiments and practice than in Spain. Personally I think that our knowledge is wider, however we do not know how to apply it in real situations. One of the main differences is that doing a sport is mandatory so everyone has to do a little bit of exercise, this exercise is compensated with the amount of fat that is in every meal.

How is domestic life similar or different to Spain?

Álvaro: My host family has been very kind to me, they have offered me everything I needed and they included me in the family just like another family member. The main difference is their food routine. They have breakfast just like us at 7am or so, then lunch is usually at 11am and dinner is at 5pm. Another interesting fact could be that here “heathy food” is actually very similar to the Mediterranean Diet.

Lucas: My host family were vegetarian. When I first heard this I thought that house was going to be hell for me, but actually, it showed me how to eat better. The first day the mom got me all sorts of winter clothes from this big closet that they had so I could be warm, and the second day she took me to the supermarket to let me choose snacks so I wouldn't be hungry. My host family couldn't have been better.

Marta & Leticia (boarders): The house in general was nice and tidy, and the bathrooms were much cleaner than we expected. On the first floor there was a common room where we all came together for meetings, birthdays or just movie time. We had to keep our rooms clean, of course, but there was a very funny cleaning lady too, called Jackie. Our Heads of House were two women taking care of all the girls in the house, and they were so nice to us.

What trips or other special events did you enjoy most during your visit?

Celia: We went to Toronto to the Roger’s Centre Stadium to watch the Blue Jays vs Boston Red Sox baseball match. Our seats were pretty good, we were behind the batter and we could see everything. Baseball matches are usually a bit slow or boring so the spectators started to sing and did a Mexican wave. It was great fun. In the 4th inning we went to buy some food and souvenirs from the team’s merchandising store. I practically bought the whole store for my little sister and I! At the end Blue Jays lost the match but no one minded or got angry and we had a lot of fun.

Álvaro: It took us 3 hours to get to Niagara Falls since we had to go through Toronto, famously known for its horrible traffic. When we arrived we had lunch on our own and then we walked to the falls. Although I had been there before, the falls amazed me again with their incredible power: 2,271,247 litres per second falling 50 metres and making a huge splash is a big deal! Firstly, we watched a movie that showed how the falls were formed. Then we went to the “Behind the Falls Journey” in which we could walk behind the falls. It was freezing cold there! The hallways were full of interesting facts and anecdotes about the falls: from the visit of Prince Harry to the intrepid lady who went down the falls inside a barrel and survived.

Leticia: The Walk Around the World event has been held in Lakefield School since their opening day due to all their international students, who had to cook a traditional dish from their country and display things from their countries on a table in the school. As Lakefield is an international school, the corridor was crowded with people and food. It was amazing to see such a variety of nationalities. The only thing you needed to do was to take a plate and walk around so you could taste the huge variety of dishes. This day was our opening act at this incredible school and I think we did really well. Everyone came to our table and was very enthusiastic about our display, asked for more food and wanted to learn some dance moves, but personally, the best thing about that day was meeting the other Lakefield students for the first time.

Marta: On Thursday April 14th, LCS participated in Earth Day. This event was all about nature and

activities that made us enjoy a day outdoors and help our environment. Leticia and I woke up very early in the morning so we could go canoeing while watching the sunrise, reflected on the massive lake beside the school. We put on some life jackets, got some paddles, took a red, shiny canoe and pushed it onto the lake. The water was extremely cold, but anyway it was very calm and the views were absolutely stunning. After paddling, we met with all the Grade 10's. The aim of this meeting was to create presentations about some charities. Then, we had to convince other grades which charity was the most suitable to receive the money that the school provided. Later on, Leticia and I signed up for an activity called Tough Mudder, in which we did some tasks that involved running around the school and into the forest, sliding, crawling and rolling on the ground... full of mud! After a charity lunch based on soups, we enjoyed a wonderful and moving drum circle performance. The two women in the show pretended to be native Canadians, and they performed some old songs and dances. Then all the students were divided into groups to pick up the garbage in the areas around the school. Our group, the exchange students, went along the road for 30 mins. When we came back we just went to the waterfront and relaxed mostly for the whole evening with some friends, watching the sun going down to finish our amazing Earth Day.

What did you learn about different nationalities?

Marta: When the pupils from the Southern Hemisphere thought about Christmas, they thought about summer, beach and sun, while we think of snow and cold. They celebrate the New Year in their bikinis and sunbathing! I also learnt a few things about Korean and Australian food and recipes that I could try to prepare now.

Celia: Asian students choose a new name when they are staying abroad.

Álvaro: I was surprised that there are a lot of Spanish students studying and boarding there. Spanish, Italian, Mexican, Indian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and more. All cultures living together without racism of any type. That is what I liked the most.

Leticia: I think in Spain generally speaking we can be quite racist, however one of the problems that causes that is because most people don't have the chance to meet people from other countries all over the world. Meeting people from different backgrounds, nationalities, traditions and ways of living is one of the greatest things in life: learning how they live, and knowing that deep down everyone is the same. Your skin colour doesn't make you better or worse. I'm really picky about people's ways of eating, and the Chinese are very different from us in that aspect. The thing I've learnt is to control myself and not to say anything at the dinner table, because that's the way they do it. Maybe for them our way of eating is horrible too.

What did your exchange partners think of their stay in Spain?

Lucas: Rebecca got a really good impression of Madrid. She really liked how close everything was, and if something was a bit far you could take either the metro or the bus. She also really liked that the school required more work from the students, which made us smarter and more hard-working.

Marta: Sarah was a boarder in Lakefield, so I think what she enjoyed the most was the warm welcome she was given by my family. She also told me many times that she was so thankful for all the home-made and restaurant food she tried in Spain. She had some trouble with Spanish though, because she had been learning the language for only the last 5 months.

Álvaro: I think our exchange partners really enjoyed their stay here in Spain because they were very sad to go back to Canada. They loved the welcome they got both from our families and the school.

Leticia: It was a very engaging and memorable experience for them. They got to experience Spanish culture and they met some extremely nice people and had a very good time. They loved our food too, and thought our school was very nice.

Celia: My exchange partner was Anna Natsu and over the 6 weeks that the exchange lasted she became a really good friend. She always said that Spanish people are very friendly and

welcoming, and that our food was really good. I think she had a great time here because she didn't want to go back to Canada.

What were the best and worst aspects of your experience?

Lucas: Maybe something that I didn't enjoy was having to take a car every time you needed to go somewhere and not being independent. The best aspect I think could be my host family, who were always organizing plans for me and for the rest of the students, and they were always really sweet and kind.

Marta: The best thing I got from this exchange was the amazing people I met along the way. I learnt a lot from them, we had so much fun all together, and I know that someday we will meet each other again. Other than this, I also had the chance to improve my fluency in English. Unfortunately, I felt a bit homesick, and I missed my family and friends from Spain

Álvaro: Looking back at the experience I have came to the conclusion that in Europe education is way better than in North America. Although in North America education is focused more on personal development rather than academic knowledge.

Leticia: One of the best aspects is that I met a lot of people from a big variety of places and different back grounds. Also that I learned to appreciate my school in Spain, because in Lakefield teachers don't really care what their students learn, or how much attention they paid in class or how much they learnt; they treated them like in university. And for me that's not the type of education I want to get, therefore I've realized that how teachers care for us is really important.

Celia: The best aspects of this experience are the opportunity to improve our English and meet wonderful people. The worst ones are being that far from my family and the food that was too tasteless and fatty.