Last updated 16:08, Tuesday, 22 July 2008

FIELD TRIP: Mexican students vist Swarthmoor Hall

By Natalie Chapples

ULVERSTON students and teachers greeted their Mexican visitors with a warm ‘buenos dias amigos’ this summer.

Ulverston Victoria High School hosted friends old and new from its link school Secundaria Tecnica 44 Francisco Villa, Mexico City, in July.

The secondary school’s Mexican Linking project is now in its seventh year. The project has a strong focus on citizenship and human rights. Its key elements are friendship and learning through a philosophical cultural connection.

This was the third visit for the Mexicans. It followed a UVHS and Sandside Lodge School trip to Mexico in October.

UVHS organised a range of fun-filled activities for its Mexican guests.

The two-week visit started with a music, drama and dance programme called Mexico Steps Through Time, performed by UVHS and Sandside students.

The video, Mayhem in Mexico, filmed by musician Alan Fitzgerald and Sandside students during their visit to the country was also shown.

The guests were also honoured with a welcome reception party at the town’s Coronation Hall.

During the visit student voice was in action when UVHS school council worked with the Mexican students on a bi-lingual enquiry.

The group, of nine students, aged 13 to 15, and seven teachers were also introduced to England’s cultural and historical diversity.

The guests were invited to attend an Ulverston Town Council meeting and to tour the town hall.

They went to the significant religious sites of Swarthmoor Hall, which is recognised as the birth place of Quakerism, and Conishead Priory, which is a Kadampa Buddhist centre.

Both sites embody the ethos of peace, which is central to the UVHS Mexico Link project. The group also visited various sites across Furness and the Lake District. They were due to take part in the Global School Linking conference at Ambleside

The Mexicans spent some time in primary schools. They visited St Mary’s Catholic Primary and Croftlands Juniors, in Ulverston, and Holy Family Catholic Primary in Barrow. This was of particular interest to Year Five pupils who have been studying the Aztecs.

There was also a trip to London.

The link partners were due to tour the Houses of Parliament and visit the Regents Park Mosque to meet students from Bloomsbury High School, which UVHS has also developed links with.

Becky Wood-Johnson, 15, went to Mexico with UVHS in October.

At the start of the visit, she said: “I love having our friends here. I was upset when I left Mexico because I’d made so many friends. We keep in contact on email and social networking sites.

“I’m looking forward to everything about the visit.

“The link project has changed me as a person. I have made friends from another country, I’m more confident and I’ve learnt Spanish.”

Erika Preciado, 14, who was visiting England for the first time, said: “I feel really happy and excited because I’m staying with my English friends.

“I like Ulverston because it is so green. It is very different in Mexico City which is very busy.”

Danielle Gilbert, 17, from UVHS sixth form, said: “It’s great to see them again. Two weeks is not enough time, because we made such a connection last time and we have built on that.

“It’s been great, I have seen such an impact in the five years I have been part of this. It’s made me more confident as a person.”

The link was founded in 2001 by the British Council.

Pat Hannam, UVHS’s head of belief, philosophy and ethics, is the link co-ordinator, working with Colynne Hicks, the school’s head of drama.

Ms Hannam, said: “It’s very special. Out of the 20 schools that started only two partnerships are left.

“It’s like a family each time we meet. We have been doing this for seven years. The children and teachers keep in touch with each other.

“It’s wonderful to renew old friendships and forge new ones and to see the students grow. It’s about making them responsible global citizens.

“There are a lot of personal development opportunities for the students.”

Tere Moreno, one of the link co-ordinators from Secundaria Tecnica 44, said: “We are so happy to be back in Ulverston. We really enjoy the visits. The main point of the linking is the friendship and learning.

“Every time the friendship is getting stronger. It is an enormous amount of work, but it is really satisfying to see how the Mexican and English students and teachers are sharing and enjoying working together.”

Silvia Palacios, who is also a link co-ordinator, said: “This link is still going because of our great, dear friendship and commitment.

“Our objectives are friendship, equality and learning.”

All schools involved said the project could not happen without the support of students’ parents.