Weiterbildungskolleg Emscher-Lippe - Schulpartnerschaft Cambridge

Schulpartnerschaft Cambridge (England)

Das Cambridge Centre for Sixth-Form Studies (CCSS) ist ein Oberstufenkolleg, an dem Schüler/innen nach zwei Jahren ihre A-Levels (Abitur) ablegen.

Das CCSS und das WEL planen eine Schulpartnerschaft im Rahmen eines anvisierten Comeniusprojektes. Bisher haben zwei Besuche von Studierenden und Lehrerenden in Cambride stattgefunden, zuletzt im September 2009.

Im Folgenden finden Sie auf dieser Seite einen Bericht zur Genese unserer Partnerschaft und unseren ersten Eindrücken von Cambridge...

-> Homepage des CCSS
-> Zur Studienfahrt in der gedruckten Ausgabe der SAW Nr. 5
-> Schulpartnerschaft mit dem BAKATL in Büyükcekmece (Türkei)

It was a dreary morning when the wheels
Rolled over a wide plain o'erhung with clouds,
And nothing cheered our way till first we saw
The long-roofed chapel of King's College lift
Turrets and pinnacles in answering files,
Extended high above a dusky grove.

Residence at Cambridge, “The Prelude”
by William Wordsworth

Well before our group of students and teachers found themselves rolling the wheels of their trolleys and travel bags along the well-trodden platforms of Cambridge Rail Station, there was nothing that had cheered my way more than the moment I mentally registered the echo of this polite voice which kept resounding in my ear. In a slightly perplexed manner I heard it reiterating that, yes, the Cambridge Centre of Sixth Form Studies would indeed be interested in forging a school partnership within Europe; and, yes again, we should by all means get in touch to supply them with further information about our fledgling ideas for a joint Comenius project. That very first phone call with CCSS ended with my staring at the receiver bug-eyed, lost in utter delight and disbelief.

No sooner said than done. As a result, after a prolonged series of cold calls to a plethora of sixth form colleges in my beloved Perfidious Albion, these weird and wondrous isles of the ancient Angle Saxons, the Emscher-Lippe Sixth-Form College in Gelsenkirchen eventually found itself a third school in a bid to apply for a joint Comenius project promoted by the European Union's Socrates Scheme.

The beginning of this new partnership was marked by a visit of a delegation of 25 teachers and students from our College to our new prospective partner school in Cambridge in September 2007. Our views firmly fixed towards the turrets and pinnacles of this enthralling City which was to be our host for the next few days, we sequestered ourselves within the hallowed halls of St. Catharine’s College, only a few steps away from the famous King’s College Chapel.

Cambridge - home of the illustrious university celebrating its 800th anniversary this year, carols in King's College Chapel and punting on the river Cam: this is a city resplendent with awesome architecture old and new. The allure of its ancient centre has been perfectly preserved with its medieval streets, gardens and bridges, college courts and museums, which had many of us wandering around as if having been lured into a temporary state of peace and placidity. Cambridge has a rather idiosyncratic way of treating its visitors: even the most trendy and easy-going of people will inevitably feel this ancient city’s ineffable sway over themselves: you simply cannot but be awed by the way in which the fabric of time does not seem to be changing here. Indeed, it was quite an atmosphere to imbibe for our Ruhr Pott wandering scholars.

Yes, for most of us our trip to Cambridge turned out to be an almost epicurean pleasure, a quick despatch from the battle front called real life - and that not merely because of its awe-inspiring architecture dripping with history and scholarship. Truth to be told, we were also only too delighted to succumb to the more mundane pleasures the City had on offer to boot. Thus we relaxed in the sun on the banks of the River Cam, in its many traditional pubs, restaurants and cafés whilst exploring the myriad of shops around the historic market place. There is a fairly new shopping centre, too, with all the variety of outlets one would expect in any regular city of this size. And for those few of us who didn’t believe in the restorative powers of night-time sleep, there was always the possibility of taking a few samples of the city’s vibrant student night life, an experience which had some of our students dancing along the reaches of Trumpington Street in the early hours of the morning, too!

Sadly enough, though, school life is said to be all about hard work. Perhaps the secret, however, lies hidden in just the right combination of work and pleasure – and, for us at least, the pleasures of this trip brought about by the overall ambience of the place were perfectly complemented by some most satisfactory work results. Not only did our visit start to break down some of the linguistic barriers in those students to whom this florid and fanciful English language had previously seemed so deeply resistible, our Comenius working group also managed to start off on what was going to develop into a most amiable and industrious co-operation with our English project partners in the years to come.

The purpose of our Comenius Project is to enable students and staff from our school as well as from our partner schools in England and Turkey to collaborate on a joint project whose aim is to develop innovative forms of teaching and learning within our three establishments. The working groups within each college will focus on whole-school development and on possible ways to enhance the students' autonomy with the main aim of developing innovative forms of teaching and learning. We are hoping to develop new ideas and aims by comparing practices across national boundaries, and to integrate these ideas and aims in our daily schedules at school.

A second visit to Cambridge took place in September 2009 during which the work begun was further developed and enhanced. We hugely enjoyed the opportunity of consolidating our personal contacts with our colleagues from the Cambridge Centre for Sixth Form Studies, asw well as renewing our acquaintance with this splendid city.

So once again we found ourselves rolling the wheels of our trolleys through airports and railway stations, and once again there was little else that cheered our way that very first night of our arrival till first we saw the turrets and pinnacles of Cambridge in answering files …

… well, OK, perhaps the plates of traditional fish and chips, which were shoved in front of us at The Eagle in Bene’t Street just a wee while later, along with a few most refreshing pints of Abbey’s Best Ale weren’t all to be sneezed at either!

Maria Pengelley

Fachvorsitzende Englisch

September 2009

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