Petrinum-Schüler nach dem Praktikum in Crawley: Eine tolle Erfahrung (created on 24.02.2024 by DZ Michael Klein 24.02.2024)

Das Manor Green College in Crawley hatte Besuch aus Dorsten: Schülerinnen undSchüler des Petrinums haben dort ein „preisgekröntes“ Praktikum absolviert.

At least four birds with one stone were hit by eight students of Dorsten's Petrinum at the end of January/beginning of February with a visit to the British partner city Crawley: They completed an internship abroad, got closer to the English culture and language, learned a lot about dealing with people with disabilities, and also enjoyed a bit of a class trip feeling. And then they even received an award for it. Because the trip to Crawley is among the ten youth projects that Nathanael Liminski, the Minister for Youth of North Rhine-Westphalia, honored at the "TeamUp!" competition, awarding them with €3,500. Following the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, it has been of particular concern to the state government to promote civil society exchange, especially youth exchange.

Encounter for the Anniversary

English teacher Markus Kaufmann joined Petrinum two years ago and has since been looking for an exchange opportunity with Great Britain. Through the friendship circle with Crawley, he was able to establish contact with Manor Green College, a school focusing on "SEND" (special educational needs and disabilities).

Eight students from Q1 (12th grade) and the 10th year started on January 26th with Markus Kaufmann and Kerstin Oberhagemann flying to London-Heathrow. By the way, Mayor Tobis Stockhoff was already there. Together with his counterpart, Mayor Jilly Hart, he celebrated the 50th anniversary of the friendship between Dorsten and Crawley with a small delegation. Johanna, Lotta, and Lukas were part of the group of interns who came into contact with people with special care needs in a fixed learning group for the first time. "It was a rewarding experience," Lukas says in retrospect, praising the great atmosphere among the English youths and between students and teachers at Manor Green College.

The extremely friendly interaction and the good mood in the school deeply impressed the delegation from Dorsten.

But also, experiences outside of school were not neglected.

Life in the Host Family

Living with families contributed significantly to improving English conversation, an excursion to Brighton, and various leisure activities rounded off a week full of horizon-broadening impressions.

Especially Markus Kaufmann hopes that the week was just the beginning of new contacts with the partner city Crawley. Participating in the "TeamUp!" competition certainly helped Petrinum on its way to becoming a European School.