Year 14 students at St Paul’s High School, with their Spanish visitors from Granada in Spain.
The students are pictured with Principal Mr Oliver Mooney and Spanish Teacher Miss Louise Mulholland 

St Paul’s High School warmly welcomes seven Spanish Exchange Programme students from Granada, Spain.

They arrived on Saturday 10th September and were greeted by their Year 14 exchange partners who had visited Granada in April.

As part of the programme they will be attending classes at St Paul’s during the week and visiting many attractions that are on offer around Northern Ireland.

The Spanish students will be staying with their host families and will depart on Tuesday 20th September. 

Students from St Paul’s pictured before heading off on their  Swedish exchange trip, accompanied by staff members Mr Tony McParland and Mrs Mary McMahon

Eight Year 13 pupils accompanied by Mr Tony Mc Parland and Mrs Mary Mc Mahon have travelled to Sweden for the second leg of this year’s exchange, returning home on Monday 12th September.

St Paul’s students from Year 13 who are taking part will be hosted by a Swedish student in their own home for the six nights of the exchange.

The programme is designed to help students to appreciate the richness of their own culture while experiencing the cultural heritage of others; the programme allows students to experience in a unique way family, school and community life in a foreign country and is a valuable opportunity for participants to develop their communication skills.

The students will take part in a range of activities in Nystromska School and various outings have been arranged including a visit to Stockholm and a boat trip to the Swedish Archipelago.

The group of AS students from St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook who are participating in a Spanish Exchange trip to Granada accompanied by Miss L Mulholland (Spanish Teacher and Trip Co-ordinator)

On Tuesday 12^th April a group of Spanish A Level students from St Paul’s High School headed off to the south of Spain as part of an exchange programme. Accompanying the group from St Paul’s High School were a further 36 students from St Catherine’s College, Armagh, St Patrick’s College, Armagh, St Michael’s Grammar School, Lurgan and Loretto College in Coleraine.

The students will stay with host families in the beautiful city of Granada and during their 10 day stay, they will have an opportunity to visit the very many cultural attractions and historical landmarks which this region has to offer. They will attend classes in a Spanish secondary school and experience life as a typical Spanish teenager.

Their Spanish counterparts with whom they will be staying whilst in Granada will travel to Ireland in September on a reciprocal visit.

Earlier this year St Paul’s began an exchange with a school called Nystromska in Soderkoping, a town near Stockholm in Sweden.

The initial acceptance of the programme by teaching staff was driven by the desire to introduce older students to the idea of travel and cultural exchange.  This undertaking would help them to appreciate the richness of their own culture while experiencing the cultural heritage of others.

Eight pupils and two teachers from the Swedish school came to Ireland last March and stayed with the St. Paul’s student’s families. For most of the Swedish students it was their first visit to Ireland.

The pupils were hosted by 8 St. Paul’s year 14 students. During their stay a range of activities and outings were organised. The highlight, however, for both the Irish and the Swedish pupils and staff was a visit to Aras and Uachtarain to meet our president Mary Mc Aleese.

Last month on September the 14th, the 8 St.Paul’s students travelled to Sweden for the second leg of the exchange. The group flew to Stockholm where they met up with their Swedish partners and families who were to host the students from St. Paul’s. For all of the Irish students and teachers this was their first time in Sweden. What an experience!

The itinerary included visits to a typical Swedish classroom to watch teaching methods, a visit to the archipelago on the Baltic Sea and of course a visit to the Swedish capital – Stockholm.  During this visit the group visited the “Vasa” museum to see the famous Vasa ship which sank on its maiden voyage in the 17th century. In the 1970’s the boat was successfully salvaged and restored to its former grandeur and is now housed in its own museum in Stockholm. It was a very impressive sight.

Both groups spent two days in Nystromska School where they were involved in an Art project including Adobe Photoshop work. The Swedish students made a presentation of their Artwork and talked about their ideas, feelings and inspiration for each piece.

The Swedish school experience is very different from our own. For example the pupils wear their own clothes, there are no bells to signal the end of class and everyone in Sweden who attends school gets free dinner.

The pupils address their teachers by their first names and they also eat together with the staff in their canteen. Everyone in Swedish schools studies English and all of the students in Nystromska were very fluent.

Nystromska School is a post 16 college. It was a former hospital, and one of the teachers was actually born there.

The population of Sweden is about 9 million, which is quite small for such a large country. Their country is covered with woodland and forests. In all the places visited, even the capital city where it is very busy, it is extremely clean. However it can be very expensive compared to Ireland. Their currency is the Swedish kronar. One pound sterling is equal to 12 kronar. This may sound like a lot but for a meal at burger king it’s about 100 kronar! About nine pounds!!!!

This was the first Swedish exchange involving St Paul’s and now this very successful link has been established both schools are very keen to continue and develop the bond between the two schools.

The students were made aware that this was a working exchange and was not a holiday. It was a valuable opportunity for them to develop their communication skills and enhance their personal development. Teachers and pupils discussed some of the long and short term benefits (UCAS forms, interview examples of how they have worked to better themselves, etc.)

In order to benefit all of the students of St Paul’s those who took part in the exchange will:

• Put on a PowerPoint presentation for their year group
• Produce a short pamphlet with pictures and text on what they found of interest in the Swedish system
• Produce a piece for the Year Book
• Attend the next open night to inform parents and students of their experiences

Pictured above are some of the many photos taken during the trip which depict the great time had by all