Our project revolved around a regional object exchange of different aspects of life in Wales and Saxony. The aim of our project was for pupils to gain more knowledge and understanding about the national identities of both countries.

To get to know each other, we created and swapped videos and letters to introduce ourselves. We also created mind maps of both countries. One of our topics was food, so we talked and wrote about different British and German foods. We even exchanged recipes of regional foods. A display of the project was set up in the Welsh school’s classroom.

The German pupils wrote postcards to their Welsh friends about popular sports in Germany and the kinds of sport they enjoy. We exchanged the rules of volleyball, lacross and netball and even sent each other signed balls to practice. Our final topic was a mixture of regional holidays and dialects in which we learned about about Eisteddfod, Vogtländisch/Sächsisch and the Welsh language.

We hope to have given pupils a new insight into different regions and meaningful contact with people of a similar age and language ability.

In our project we wanted to discover the themes of national identity in both Germany and Britain. We worked with Sixth-form students and students from the Oberstufe, meeting weekly in a club. After sharing profiles, we started exchanging short videos via our online blog in which we discussed common views on the other country. We took part in a competition 'The British View: Germany - Memories of a Nation' and won a trip to Berlin. This allowed our German group to visit an exhibition on German national identity in Berlin and to explore the city.

To widen the views shared in the videos, we then developed an exhibition for ourselves, featuring important objects on both British and German identity.

In order to get parents and teachers involved as well, we created a questionnaire on Brexit, national and European politics, which we then sent to the other group; the results were then discussed in pen-pal-groups via email. We hope that through this project pupils gained an authentic insight into life in the other country and were able to establish a long-term connection with each other.

If you would like to see the students’ exhibition, profiles and videos, visit our blog at:
https://whsgsh-school.tumblr.com (password: germanenglishclub).

Our project was inspired by Seas and Oceans, the theme of the BMBF Year of Science. The aim of our project was to increase knowledge and understanding about the topic and to raise awareness about waste and pollution.

We organised excursions to the coast, and created a video along with a recycling guide. We wrote letters about ourselves and exchanged social media accounts. Our letters included small texts on our favourite activities related to the sea such as fishing, diving and fossil hunting. This linked our theoretical discussions with our personal lives.

We measured the amount of waste we produced in a week. The German pupils took photos of their city and created maps to show their friends how close to the sea they are. We went on a trip around an island and took photos discovering new perspectives. A local artist told us about her work on plastic pollution. We came up with a recycling quiz and interviewed the manager of a local youth café known for their upcycling projects. After all these activities, we created a gigantic map with all the letters, photos and texts bringing together our (art-)work.