Twinning Association Links
Barbaraschule, Eschweiler, Germany
After a pandemic enforced break,we are delighted to welcome back in 2023/24 our friends from Barbaraschule. The relationship had existed successfully for 14 years before the pandemic interruption and we are looking forward to seeing the teachers and children once again and enjoying being in each others company, extending hands of friendship and connecting lives.
Initially, the concept of Mrs Baker (retired Priory Deputy Headteacher) and her close friend Frau Peter (retired Barbaraschule Deputy Headteacher), both worked with the Local Council, Reigate and Banstead Twinning Association and the German Embassy to establish what was the only relationship of its nature (and could still be) between an English school of Primary aged children and their counterparts in Germany.
The return of our German friends supports not only our school values of Connection, Cooperation and Communication, it represents a unique opportunity within our Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural (SMSC) learning and that related to our British Values.
Coinsiding with European Day of Languages, this year our friends returned to Reigate Priory for a week in September. Once again all our children had the responsibility for hosting our guests but they were based in Year 5 and joined their learning over the two days of visits in school.
Click on their school badge above for a link to their school website.
Reflections from this year's visit:
'We had four German children come to our class and we had them for two days. It was really fun because we did PE, Poetry, Maths (they were really good at that) English and Science. I hope they had a nice time too because we certainly did.' Betty
'Last week some German school children visited, and my friends and I were so excited! We had so much fun, and we made a list of phrases in German. We did PE, Geography and Maths with them. I made a friend called Lucy.' Ramona
'When the German children were here, they stayed for two days and joined in all of our lessons such as: PE, Writing, Maths and much more. We all made new connections and new friendships which will last for a lifetime. We helped direct them to where everything was and helped with everything they needed to know. We treated them with respect and kindness. We will all miss our new friends very much and hope they come again soon.' Judith
As part of our significant relationship with the Reigate and Banstead Twinning Association, we were delighted to welcome the Deputy Mayor, and representatives of the German Twinning Association to welcome our German visitors.
Reflections from previous years:
‘Before we felt excited but also nervous to see what our pen pals were like. But once we met them, we enjoyed playing with them and they helped us to learn some new language. One of our favourite activities was going into the park for Bonding because we had great fun spending time together and helping each other.’ Erin and Amelie
‘At the start, I was very nervous about meeting my pen pal and talking to her, but after we started to get to know each other, it got less awkward! We did a lot of activities together, and I learned a lot of new, helpful skills. What a great experience!’ George
The week was very busy! By the end of the week we had made new friends (we even learned some German from them!), and felt we had become much more confident as well.’ Isla and Elsie
Brunoy, France
Building on the success of the established German exchange and supporting our French language learning, we have begun a journey to open up new connections and relationships with Reigate's other Twinning Town of Brunoy.
In the Summer term 2022/23, both Mrs Dean (Deputy Headteacher) and Mrs Ewbank (MFL Leader) joined a group of other Reigate Twinning officials, on an envoy visit to the town. During this trip, our teachers were privileged to meet many local dignitaries and be guests of honour at various gatherings, while also being provided with unique tours of the famous sights of nearby Paris.
These occasions provided the perfect backdrop for some really positive conversations with local school leaders and we hope to build on these over the next few years with partnerships for staff and children.
More Information on the Reigate and Banstead Twinning Association can be found via the following links:
