And We're Off!

What a busy start to Erasmus week.  Our Spanish visitors arrived safely on Friday night and were placed with their host families for the week.  On Saturday, the French visitors arrived and everybody went out for an evening of bowling and food.   The German visitors arrived on Sunday and finally we are all together.

On Monday, we started the day by getting to know each other with some games and warm up exercises with Ms Prior.  This was followed by an exciting and fun session on how to run a successful business - this was run by Mrs Hewitt and her Year 9 Business Studies class and included building structures with dried spaghetti and marshmallows, guessing the business logo and playing bingo.  Then it was on board the coach for an afternoon of surfing.  Well, that was the plan but Hurricane Ophelia had other ideas.  The raging waves and windy conditions meant that only one group managed to get into the sea (see the picture below) while everyone had a fun time with games on the beach.  This was followed by delicious pizzas at the Waterfront Restaurant.

On Tuesday, it was all about getting job vacancies within Bodropia businesses filled.  The morning session was taken by Mrs Perrin and her workskills group.  She gave all the businesses and applicants some great ideas and advice on applying for jobs, the types of questions that may be asked and how to behave and dress.  There was plenty of opportunity for everyone to practise their skills and then later on it was time for the businesses to conduct their interviews.  Each visitor went to several interviews and then the applicants and businesses were matched up.

In the afternoon, the business teams started preparations for the Fair tomorrow - making posters, finalising their products, training their new member of staff and creating their pricing structures.  There was a real buzz of excitement and it was a hive of creativity and ingenuity.  A visitor to the workshop noted that it was "So good to see the meshing and blending of cultures and languages under the umbrella of friendship and business  opportunity ."