Children from two local primary schools have taken part in a five-day trip to south west France, to learn more about European culture.

Year 5 and 6 pupils at Shoscombe Church School, and St Julian’s School, Wellow, which are both led by Headteacher Ruth Noall, visited their partner school in La Bouscat, Bordeaux – Ecole Elementaire Lafon Feline.

The trip, which was held last week, was the first international excursion this year that is being funded by the European Parliament’s Erasmus+ 2019-2021 project called ‘Respect, Reuse, Recycle’.

Headteacher, Ruth Noall, said: “This was the first time many of our pupils had been on an aeroplane, let alone visited another country! Our Year 5 and 6 children from Wellow and Shoscombe were also joined by pupils from partner schools in Denmark and Spain, too.

“Children stayed in pairs with a host family from the French school, experiencing daily life, conversation and food with a French family. Throughout the trip, we spent time in the centre of the beautiful city of Bordeaux, visited two local projects that are committed to improving recycling, and gave powerpoint presentations to French schoolchildren about life in the UK.”

Other activities included a whole school presentation where children sang national anthems, waved flags and also presented a School-to-School song linked to the theme of recycling. “This was quite nerve wracking as the English group only numbered ten children and five adults, but we managed – just about!” added Ruth.

The five-day tour also included a visit to a wildlife and bird reserve where children learnt to look for clues and partook in a spot of birdwatching.

“All in all, it was a very successful trip,” Ruth says. “It was an opportunity for our oldest pupils to show courage and resilience, to experience something new and learn about other people’s cultures and ways. The next trip is to Denmark at the end of May.”

The Erasmus Programme in an international student exchange programme established in 1987 by the European Union to encourage schools across Europe to work together on projects, initiatives, competitions and research work.

Shoscombe Church School and St Julian’s School, Wellow, are the only schools locally to have been awarded such funding – singling them out as leaders in this field of work.

Between 2018 – 2020, they will receive almost €50,000 between them.