Our pupils have recently completed their exchange with Dilmann Gymnasium in Stuttgart, Germany, after having hosted the German pupils at Smestow in March. This exchange was generously funded by UK German Connection, who are part of the British Council. UK-German Connection is a bilateral government initiative dedicated to improving contacts and understanding between young people in the UK and Germany. It was established in 2005, following Her Majesty’s State Visit to Germany in November 2004, during which Queen Elizabeth II and Federal President Horst Köhler launched an initiative to foster UK-German school and youth links.
Our pupils report below:
Monday 10th November
On Monday, we had to be at school for 2am to be able to catch our flight. We then took a minibus to Heathrow airport; We then took a tram to get to our hostel; we landed at Stuttgart Airport at around 10:20.
Once we got to our hostel, we dropped off our luggage in our rooms before meeting up with our partner school at their school. We then went on a guided tour around the City of Stuttgart. We also visited a museum where we went in the infinite lifts (paternoster lifts). We saw many historical places and buildings that were impressive and grand.
Tuesday 11th November
We started off our day travelling to our partnership school Dillmann Gymnasium. We spent one lesson with the students experiencing German classes, where we got to speak to students and find out more about them.
After this we took the buses to FANUC, an engineering exhibit. There were many different robots where we also got to test out a robot, one DEFINITELY didn’t break...
To finish off our night, after dinner we visited the TV tower where many of us got to take photos and bought souvenirs! This was a highlight of our trip as we got to see a view of the whole of Stuttgart during the night.
Wednesday 12th November
We woke up early, to visit the German school again, here we spent one lesson and then we made our way to the Stuttgart University.
Here we visited their makerspace where we made personalised stickers. After this we went to a different campus and had an AI workshop, where we tested a game called 'Draw it!’
Finally, to finish our day, we visited the supercomputer and had other small workshops throughout the tour.
Thursday 13th November
Day 4 was amazing. First, we went to Heilbronn University and went to a small 'Laboratory' - more a practice Laboratory. We did some AI race cars, looked at a miniature factory and we had lunch at the University. The food was nice and we learnt about mostly coding at the University.
In the afternoon, we went to a 5 FLOOR Science Museum. There are lots and LOTS of things to do. There are loads of rooms to go. For example: Space, Play area, Simulations, Robots, A WHOLE SCIENCE DOME! and many more.
Friday 14th November
Day 5 was mostly a chill day. Firstly, we went to the German school and did an evaluation at the school. We had lunch in the school too.
Next, we went to the town centre and had 1:45h free time around the city. Lastly, we went to a nearby shop and get packed tea. Then, we went back to the airport and gone home at about 1:00 in the morning. Thank you for reading.
We enjoyed this opportunity and had a great time except for the first day where we were so tired and just wanted to rest but it was still quite fun 🙂
We would all recommend signing up for an international trip. We enjoyed learning about the German culture and German schools. It was an eye-opening experience to the German culture and life in Stuttgart.
Things we learnt:
- It's a lot cheaper to get university education in Germany.
- They had lots of opportunities for engineering jobs.
- There are many bakeries.
- The city was a lot cleaner and had a lot of pride in their own food.
- They use public transport a lot.
In German schools…
- They had no detentions and had to make up the time they were late at the end of the school year.
- They were able to wear their own clothes instead of uniform.
- They were allowed out at break and lunchtimes.
