Follifoot C of E Primary School will this week (16 to 22 April) welcome pupils from Primar Schul Muolen in North East Switzerland. The 11 to 12 year old Swiss pupils will stay with families of children at the village school for the week and enjoy activities in and around Harrogate.
The eight Swiss children will be accompanied by their teacher, Esther Bolli. Esther is a Handicraft and English teacher at Muolen School who first came to Follifoot in April 2009 for a 3 week placement from Zurich, as part of her studies for her ‘English Teacher for Primary Schools’ qualification. Having enjoyed her stay so much, she always hoped that she could bring some of her pupils over to Harrogate to experience education and family life as she had.
The trip has been co-ordinated by Helen Harrison, a teacher at Follifoot C of E Primary School. Helen has organised several placement experiences for Swiss teachers since she started teaching at Follifoot eight years ago. She maintains contact with several of the students, visiting Zurich three times since Esther came over in 2009, and so was delighted that they could organise this trip for the pupils.
The small village of Muolen (approx. 1100 inhabitants) is situated in the canton of St Gallen on the German border near Lake Constance. Pupils from the school there are excited to be staying in Follifoot and will enjoy developing awareness of British culture, experiencing life in a Harrogate home and education in a British school and having the opportunity to practise speaking English. Equally, the Follifoot Primary pupils will benefit from learning about the different ways of life and education from their Swiss peers and perhaps learning some German phrases along the way.
The Swiss pupils have an action-packed timetable ahead of them for the week including lessons and sporting activities at Follifoot Primary School, visits to Harrogate centre and Valley Gardens, a day in York visiting the Castle Museum and Clifford’s Tower and a trip to Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal.
