PPLI Spotlight on Schools PDLS Bagenalstown Co. Carlow - Flipbook - Page 2
DLS Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow
Showcasing PDLS Bagenalstown’s Virtual Exchanges with
schools in Cuxhaven and Kassel, Germany
Our initiative grew out of the desire to link up with students in German secondary
schools and engage with language and culture in a fun way. The aim was that each
student would have a partner in the partner school and would initially connect
with him/her through handwritten letters, sent directly to the link teacher. From
there, it was hoped that the connection would grow and that the next step;
sharing videos, would help to build familiarity and confidence, eventually leading
to live ‘meet-ups’ during lessons.
Cuxhaven
Our partner school in Cuxhaven linked with third- and fourth-year students. Zoom meetings between teachers created
the opportunity to discuss the vision for the initiative and helped to develop a solid rapport. Sharing phone numbers
allowed for a quicker connection, and regular updates of events in school were shared in this way. The exchanging of
letters brought great excitement to our lessons, in both writing our own and receiving them from Germany. Students
then made videos of their town and also a video describing the rules of hurling, where they demonstrated the
techniques involved in the game. Personal messages to each student were also sent and at Christmas time, students
sent little videos expressing why they like Christmas. Exciting videos showing the school in Cuxhaven, making waffles
in the English lessons and a ‘dance-off’ were also shared with us to name but a few.
One of the highlights for third- and fourth-year students came with the arrival of a box of gifts sent to each student
involved in the initiative. The students then requested the opportunity to send gifts in return to their ‘new friends’ in
Germany. Good timing saw our gifts being delivered to Cuxhaven on December 6th – a VERY special day on any German
calendar. These gifts were inexpensive and sent as gesture. For example, in one case a potato was wrapped up and
sent to Germany and we in return received some sand from the beach in Cuxhaven. It was agreed that sharing email
addresses would be a natural next step in the process and so students’ school email addresses were shared. This
afforded those involved the opportunity to share pictures of their Christmas decorations and Irish traditions, as well
as to receive a quicker response. Christmas cards were the obvious next step in the process and were written with the
support of our German assistant, offering tips for some nice phrases to include.
Building on the strong connections made, it was decided that Zoom ‘meet-ups’ between students would allow for
more ‘real-time’ experience and so, in groups of two, the students chatted with their partners during lessons using
iPads. Though at first slightly nervous, the very fact that the students felt they knew their partner before this ‘face-toface’ experience allowed for less hesitance. Students prepared some topics for discussion and were immediately keen
to follow up with another ‘meet-up’ after their first success.
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