Madrid Exchange Trip 2023

Language students excel

Our students had a great time on our trip to Madrid as part of our residential exchange programme with Colegios el Valle school in Madrid. This has been an annual highlight for our students of Spanish, with the opportunity to practice speaking and listening with native speakers.
As is customary, our boys were given a warm welcome on our arrival into Barajas airport as they were met by their host families, after a long flight from the UK.

Our first morning was spent exploring the beautiful El Retiro park and enjoying a traditional ‘churros con chocolate’ breakfast before heading out onto the boating lake for some rowing. 

In the afternoon we were able to marvel at the incredible feat of engineering that is taking place at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium as part of its remodelling.

Thursday was somewhat of a soggy affair with the type of rainfall not seen in Madrid for 100 years! Luckily our tour of the Palacio de Aranjuez included a walk around the beautiful state rooms. Hopefully it will stay drier next year so that we can enjoy the expansive gardens.

On Friday we spent the morning at the Prado, home to one of the world’s greatest art collections. Here our students were able to find out about the lives of great masters Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Goya, amongst others.   

A new addition to the programme, Friday afternoon, included a trip to an historic Flamenco school in the Antón Martin market. Here our boys received a demonstration before having a go themselves in an hour-long workshop.

The weekend is traditionally spent with families, and their hospitality is legendary. As per usual I was greeted by excited faces and beaming smiles on Monday morning as tales of the weekend were recounted.

This year we have been marking the tenth anniversary of the beginnings of our relationship with Colegios el Valle and I am delighted to say that the connection between the two schools remains as strong as ever.

The boys who came on the trip conducted themselves in a way that is a  credit to our school. We now look forward to the return leg in June.