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In March and April 2018, Francesca, Millie and Roxy in Year 9 embarked on an international exchange with Havergal College in Toronto, Canada. RMS has had links with this school for the past thirty years and the girls were able to experience and contribute to life there in April having hosted their Canadian partners here in March. Here the girls write about their experience:
The Canadian students spent two weeks here, living with us and going to school with us.
We also took them on trips outside of school to show them the culture of England, for example, high tea and Windsor Castle. RMS also organised a school trip to Madame Tussauds followed by a workshop with a British actor at Regent’s University.
A few weeks later, it was our turn to travel to Toronto. We arrived at Pearson airport, Toronto, on the 7th of April. We were quite scared to be spending two weeks in an unfamiliar house in an unfamiliar country but everyone was lovely. The airline staff were all really kind and they made sure we were all right travelling on our own. We went to school there and lived with our partners.The school was really fun and they did a lot of lessons we hadn’t done before. Tthere were five exchange students from Scotland there at the same time as us and they were really nice and friendly
We all went on really cool trips like going to the CN tower and Niagara Falls, seeing a Blue Jays baseball game, a Raptors basketball game, and going to a school ball!
However whilst those of you that stayed here in England enjoyed what had been predicted to be the hottest day this year in Britain, it was -5 degrees celsius and snowing in Toronto! Havergal College organised a trip to Casa Loma, one of Canada’s only castles, and it was only built last century!We found that quite strange, coming from a country that’s nearly a thousand years old compared to Canada’s 150 years.
We were really sad to go but it was good to be home. We were very tired and jet lagged afterwards but luckily we still had four days before we had to go back to school. We have all kept in touch with our exchange partners after having a wonderful time with them, and all intend to meet up with each other again.
We would definitely recommend this trip to any Year 8s thinking about it. We had an amazing time and learnt a lot from a Canadian school and about Canadian culture. We would definitely do it again if we had the chance as it was an incredible opportunity and experience.”
And here is what Elina, Francesca’s partner, had to say about the exchange:
“The culture of RMS is very different from the culture of our school. There are lots of differences but also many similarities. Being in RMS really allowed me to experience the daily routines and the life in another school. What I really liked was that the teachers and students didn't change what they were doing or alter their daily routines for me. I was just another student in the class, and I really liked it, since it allowed me to be a part of the class and participate actively in class. Overall, I think life in RMS definitely allowed me to enjoy and experience another school's culture”
Elina