Finland is a real ice-breaker!
LRGS pupils on a forthcoming European exchange will get the chance to do some real ice breaking soon, as they try out ice swimming in freezing temperatures in Tampere, Finland.
This is just one of the activities that will be enjoyed (or endured?!) by boys taking part in European Week from 12-19 March, during which 12 Lower Sixth pupils from LRGS will visit schools in Hungary, Poland, Germany, France and Finland, while pupils from these countries are simultaneously hosted by LRGS.
The exchange is part of the British Council-funded Comenius Project, which aims to develop understanding among young people of the diversity of European cultures and languages, while helping them acquire basic life skills. The theme of this year’s project is Live Long and Prosper, and a range of activities to promote health and wellbeing among young people are being planned by all six participating schools, including sending each other nutritious recipes from each country, along with the ingredients needed to make the meals.
LRGS is planning an exciting range of activities for the 16 and 17-year-old European visitors. They will join our pupils in planting 60 native copse trees in celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, amongst them a Royal Oak donated by the Woodland Trust; visit Dallas Road primary school to teach children songs and dances from their country and take part in a variety of school-based ventures, from the climbing wall to discussions on contemporary social issues. They will of course start with some ice breaking activities, though none will involve outdoor swimming! See our photo gallery for pictures from previous European weeks.
The European schools participating in the Project are: Ilona Zrinyi Gimnasium, Miskolc, Hungary; Herderschule Rendsburg, Germany (one of Lancaster’s twin towns); Liceum Ogólnoksztalcace, Biecz, Poland; Lycée Emil Zola, Aix-en Provence, France, and Tampereen Normaalikoulu, Tampere, Finland. For more information about Comenius and the school’s other international links, see International Links.
