Pupils at a Perthshire primary school excelled as they hosted a class of Norwegian children through an exchange.
P7s at Robert Douglas Memorial (RDM) Primary School, in Scone, quickly made friends with the group of kids from Nordfold School, in Steigen, Norway.
Language barriers were not an issue for the children as they bonded through shared activities and interests (and the Norwegian youngster’s strong grasp of the English language).
The Perthshire group guided their visitors through a packed itinerary during the week long visit, taking them to many nearby attractions.
They visited the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh Castle, the Cairngorms and Scone Palace, as well as taking part in outdoor activities and sessions within the school.
Class teacher, Fraser Boyd, help organised the exchange with Erasmus funding – the last of its kind after Westminster axed the project following Brexit.
Mr Boyd said: “It’s brilliant seeing the kids finding out about each other, their similarities and differences and the way they do things – from a professional point of view as a teacher, it’s fascinating to watch.
“We’re seeing different sides to our kids that we don’t normally see as they discover the differences in their cultures and lifestyles.
“They’re learning to adapt their communication style if the Norwegian children don’t understand them the first time, which is a life skill.
“And the confidence they’re showing – the children who we we didn’t expect to be socially comfortable have taken the lead in some activities.”
Despite their differences, Mr Boyd said both sides quickly realised they had many shared interests and hobbies.
And visiting local attractions was as much fun for the Scottish children, some of whom had never visited Edinburgh or other places on the schedule.
The group received a guided tour of the parliament, during which they met Deputy First Minister John Swinney, took part in outdoor activities at Lochore Meadows, in Fife, and visited Dundee and Falkirk.
Alison Wilson, RDM’s outdoor learning teacher, said: “It’s been an amazing experience for the children, they’ve just loved it.
“They got an awareness of international travel and learned that children in other countries are just like themselves.
“There are differences in languages and culture but deep down they are the same the world over.”
Trip to Norway
Next academic year a group of the Scottish children will visit Norway – taking two planes and a boat to reach the school’s remote location.
Norwegian class teacher, Kjersti Johnsen, who brought the children to Scotland, said: “It has been very interesting to see the children bonding.
“Scotland is great, it reminds me of the south of Norway but there are also great differences, nature and size, Scotland is a big place.
“I am impressed with how the school does outdoor play. The main difference is the size of the school, so it is organised differently. Our school is one tenth of the size.
“We can learn a lot from what they do and when they come to our school, they will find interesting ways of doing things.”
She added that the Norwegian children were looking forward to having the Scottish children visit them and showing them their school and culture.
Norway’s Constitution Day
In the run up to the visit, some of the pupils at RDM played Norway’s national anthem on the country’s Constitution Day, May 17.
On Norway’s Constitution Day, here are our Scottish pupils performing Norway’s national anthem to celebrate the imminent arrival of their friends from Steigen on Sunday! #17mai #SyttendeMai #Norge #ErasmusPlus pic.twitter.com/4qkaPKWmM0
— Scone Steigen Nature Project (@Scone_Steigen) May 17, 2022
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