Academy welcome visitors from Königswinter
Pilgrim Academy received a very special visit.
They welcomed Mayor Cllr Beasant and Mayor Lutz Wagner of Königswinter, Germany, Cleethorpes twinned town.
They were accompanied by colleagues from Germany including Councillors and Culture Representatives.
Mayor Cllr Beasant commented: “This is my third visit to Pilgrim Academy and it’s been fantastic. The entire school are always so welcoming and it’s always a pleasant visit.”
Executive Principal, Andrew Clark led visitors around the school grounds. They were shown the library, several classrooms and the wildlife areas.
Mr. Clark said: “We toured the Academy gardens and joined Nursery class, Tadploes, with their handwriting practice outside in the sunshine. Our visitors were very impressed with how well the children were writing at such a young age.
We then showed them our pond which has lots of different creatures like newts, frogs, tadpoles and pond skaters. We also showed them our new SUDS Planters, sensory room and lessons, including visiting our Year 6 pupils, who will soon be leaving the Academy to attend secondary school.”
The Mayor and his colleagues wished the Year 6s luck in their transition to secondary school. Mr. Gibbon’s pupils, who recently sat the national tests, told them that they were excited about going to secondary school.
Following the tour of the school, members of the Student Leadership Team met with the representatives and asked them lots of great questions.
Taylor Sinclair asked: “What is important to the people of your town?”
Mayor Lutz Wagner replied: “Good schools and the older children have interests in the playgrounds and football fields. We recently repaired the swimming pool, which they were very happy about.”
The visitors told the student leaders about the differences between our schools and theirs, such as they do not have school uniforms in Königswinter. They told the pupils that their schooling system works very differently from ours, with students only spending four years in primary school before going on to different types of secondary schools.
Pilgrim Academy’s student leaders learned about how children’s voices are heard in Königswinter and what a day in the life of Mayor Wagner looks like. He said: “I have lots of meetings and presentations. I have a lot of visitors and read a lot of emails.”
He told the students about their traditions in the town such as the carnival parade, which celebrates the coming of Spring and involves dancing, dressing up, music and lots of sweet treats.
One of the pupils on the leadership team, Brooke Swift, asked if there was an opportunity to set up a link with a school in Königswinter. This delighted our guests who had brought postcards from students in their school and asked if we would like to write back to them. They explained that the children who wrote the postcards have just started learning English and would love to hear from our pupils.
The visitors were then treated to a wonderful performance by the choir in Pilgrim Academy’s outside theatre, who sang and performed three songs, recently learnt with I Sing Pop.
Executive Principal, Andrew Clark, thanked Mayor Cllr Beasant and Mayor Wagner for taking the time to visit Pilgrim Academy. He said, “it has been a privilege for our children to be included in our guests’ busy schedule and we look forward to establishing a long-standing link with a school in Königswinter.”
Cllr Beasant commented: “This has been a brilliant day for me. It is my last day as Mayor and this has been the best day I could have had. Thank you.”
