Zreče students visit Settlebeck School, May 2006

On Thursday 18th May 2006 many of our year 9 students and their families waited with eager anticipation for their guests from Zreče to arrive, after their touch down at Liverpool Airport that evening. It was a damp evening and the forecast was not good for their four-day visit. We were keen to show them the very best of Sedbergh, the Dales and the Lakes but it was an unfortunate choice of weekend and we had to make some radical last minute changes to our plans, especially the hill walking in Borrowdale.

However, in the event it was however a wonderful visit and a great success.

On the Friday the Zrečian students and staff took part, with their hosts and friends, in drama games and activities at Settlebeck, designed to develop the relationship between our students and provide lots of opportunity for discussion. All of the Zrečian students were quite fluent in English, which is a feature of Slovenian young people, and interaction was easy and relaxed. A damp visit to Sedbergh was squeezed in before the evening event, which was a joint concert between Settlebeck and Queen Elizabeth School, Kirkby Lonsdale in Settlebeck's Hall. This was a great success and it was particularly gratifying to see ex-Settlebeck boys performing in the Queen Elizabeth School sixth form choir.

On the Saturday our Zrečian visitors loved the Gala. It seems that they have no tradition of such town events and they were very impressed by the great community spirit in evidence, particularly since with such a damp and inauspicious start. Perhaps the rain clouds shifted away at the last minute in support of Sedbergh/Zreče relations.

Once the forecast for Sunday was certain there was only one thing for it - a visit to the Superbowl at Morecambe in the morning and the cinema in the afternoon. Luckily our arrival in Morecambe was during a bright, clear spell and so the Lakeland mountains could be appreciated across the clear blue bay before the stair-rods began.

The forty Settlebeck and Zrečian students, as you would expect, couldn't have cared less about walking in the Lakes, when faced with ten-pin bowling and an action packed film (Mission Impossible 3) but we still have a few pangs of regret that they missed getting to know our landscape more intimately. The evening passed with a get together and some games and dancing at Settlebeck.

Monday was the last day and we had the tour of Liverpool football ground and museum. This proved very popular and was every bit as good as Manchester United's ground which we visited last year. From there it was straight to the Trafford Centre (in pouring rain!) for three hours of shopping heaven. Luckily the centre was very quiet and our visitors were knocked out by the size and diversity of this ultimate consumerism experience. Every one of them left with at least two bargains!

On the return journey the weather finally cleared up, as with the gala, and enabled us to site our goodbye garden party on Settlebeck's back lawn and fields, rather than indoors. During the pillow fighting, the water challenge, egg throwing and the tug-of-war spirits were high and it was clear that the bond between another cohort of our students was well and truly sealed.

Early Tuesday morning we took our leave of these young people who we met in Slovenia in February and who we had taken into our hearts. These are truly lovely people and our connection to them continues to deepen.

Thank you to all those families and friends of the school who made this visit so successful and particularly to those who took the Slovenian students into their homes, where the real experience of Sedbergh took place.