In a school which places so much emphasis on academic excellence, it is important that students gain valuable experience in putting their learning into practice. The strength of Sir Thomas Rich's school is the extensive effort staff make in organising and leading these extra-curricular experiences for their students.
The trip abroad and communication in the foreign tongue with native speakers are absolutely vital - to say they provide extended speaking and comprehension opportunities is to understate their full worth. They allow the students to immerse themselves in the culture and society of their hosts, to gain an intimate understanding of their ways of thinking and doing. Students can appreciate properly the colloquial and formal ways of speech - they learn for example how a French person would express him/herself rather than how we might (literally) translate an English expression into French. Within a short space of time students begin to 'think' in the foreign language - that first big important step on the road to becoming fluent.
We have always been keen participants in the 'traditional' Exchange visit but now our Language College status has brought many new opportunities and contacts for broadening our horizons and increasing our direct involvement with students (and teachers!) of other countries.
The world is rapidly becoming a smaller place and the need to talk with and understand people of different cultures and backgrounds to ourselves is paramount if we are to make the world a peaceful and more harmonious place to live in.
Click on the links below to find out about recent trips:
Aachen Work Experience Exchange (November 2006 Aacheners in Gloucester & January 2007 in Aachen)
Aachen Work Experience Exchange (January 2006 Aacheners in Gloucester & March/April 2006 in Aachen)
Aachen Work Experience Exchange (April 2005)
Aachen Work Experience Exchange (March 2004)
Rhineland Trip (October 2003)
Göttingen Exchange (April 2003)
Spanish Trip (March 2003)
Visit to Gloucester by our Trier Exchange Partners (October 2002)
Norway Expedition (1-23 August 2002)
Kenya Trip (July 2002)
Göttingen Exchange (16-25 March 2002)
Trier Exchange (10-17 March 2002)
Rhineland Trip (26-30 October 2001)