Eight o’clock in the evening… we have just arrived from Spain to Chester: we have ten

days ahead and we look forward to learning a lot in this adventure. Thanks to the Comenius project, 2

nd of Bachillerato students of the Zurbarán school

have enjoyed one of the best experiences of the year: a trip to England where they had

the opportunity to meet people with the same age and sharing hobbies, culture,

language, and above all, hope.

They have been there for ten days in which they went to Alton Towers theme park, they

went ice- skating (or at least they tried to do it), they went at bowls, they visited

Manchester (the Old Trafford stadium, Chinatown, some monuments, etc.) and

Liverpool where they took a ferry ride across the Mersey river, they danced and sang in

The Cavern, the pub where The Beatles played for the very first time, they went

shopping, among other things.

Apart from that, they could practise English in Queen’s Park High School since each

student had a “shadow” with whom they attended classes, they knew the High school’s

facilities, they did some activities, etc.

To sum up, these days have been full of magic, laughter, good times and stories

To remember. That’s why Portfolio students are looking forward to the arrival of their

English friends. Raquel Carretero Juárez

Chester: Unforgettable.

I won´t forget the days I spent in Chester. The atmosphere of the city is

great and Chester is different from the typical dark, dull and

industrialized city. It arouses the tourist's interest. The city also offers

excellent examples of Victorian architecture.

To my mind, we were really comfortable there because we could visit

the town every day. In addition, we went shopping and we could relax

in a cafeteria.

We felt at ease in Queen´S Park High School. We met charming people

and teachers were pleased when we attended a lesson. I enjoyed

seeing what the student´s life was life out of my country. I was able to

find out about the differences between an English and a Spanish high

school. The English one was huge and the organization was distinct.

I loved the moment when my pen-pal and some students showed me

some of their art projects.

There were beautiful

photos, unusual sculptures.

I was astonished!!

Talking about the outdoors

activities, I think that they

were amazing. We really

enjoyed the barbecue, the

bowling, the ice skating

and mainly our visit to

Alton Towers. Steve went

with us and he made the

visits funnier!!

From my point of view, time flew in Chester. We did different things every

day and in the afternoon you didn´t have time to get bored!!

As far as I am concerned, our stay in Chester has provided us with a

great knowledge about the English culture and life because we could

coexist with an English host family. In my case, it welcomed us warmly.

Talking about English, I think that the fact of being with English teenagers

and with a host family was a great opportunity. Well, I found it difficult to

understand what they said, but you can learn colloquial words and

expressions and in my case, English intonation is very important. You

know, you can learn a lot of things about speaking skills. In addition, I

could hear for the first time Scouse, the typical accent and the dialect of

the city of Liverpool!!

In short, the experience was very rewarding and it left a good taste in my

mouth. Fátima Camacho Sánchez

~MY EXPERIENCE IN CHESTER~

To be honest, I have to say this project has been, with difference, better than the first

one, when we went to Norwich. This time has been much more interesting and funny

because we were in direct contact with the ordinary life of English students and that is

much more enriching than being in a simple English

academy where you don’t have contact with that.

The high school there is so different from what we

are used to having in Spain!. There, those pupils that

course an equivalent level to “Bachillerato” only

have four subjects, the specific ones of each

modality. As they have only those subjects they

don’t have a six period timetable like us. In Queen’s

Park High School the sixth level’s students have

access to a common room where they can meet in

the periods where they don’t have any lessons.

There they can play music in two CD players, play poker, use their mobile phones,

make toasts and coffees – because the canteen food is not very good at all…

everything must be said!

I went to two Psychology classes because it was my favorite one and I could

understand almost everything the teacher was explaining. These lessons were very

pleasant, with little memory games and some curiosities about the topic they were

studying: “The Memory”. The other classes that I went to, were Spanish, with Steve, and

Photography, where the teacher didn’t turn up so I spent the whole hour just trying to

decode what the girls were saying – they spoke very fast and under one’s breath or,

like Mila says, “in real English”. In the Spanish class we felt like important! It was odd to

see that there were some people in the process of learning our own language and it

was difficult for them. We might felt proud of ourselves because there was a difference

between our level of English and their level of Spanish and so they told us our English

was very good; although it’s logical because we have been learning English since we

were five years old, and they have been learning Spanish for a couple of years.

But this trip hasn’t been better just for these reasons, but because we did more activities

outside the school too: ice-skating – a new funny experience for all of us, with some silly

falls; the visit to Manchester City, we went to an amusement park, the barbecue with

some English Students in the schoolyard –well… schoolyard… huge grassland!; the free

time we had to visit Chester and go shopping or whatever, the stay in a Hostel in

Liverpool and the trip on a ferry through the river that crosses Liverpool, the river

Mersey…

I have to say that not everything were roses, but thorns. Sometimes, tiredness and the

amount of time we were together every single day, caused arguments, bad humor and

tension between us that, better or worse, we finally settled – you know how these things

work!

Although IN the FEW lasts days some of us felt like going back home, I’m completely

sure that nobody will forget this beautiful and enriching experience. MARÍA MARCOS

VADILLO

Queen’s Park High School My experience in the Queen’s Park High School was so interesting. The first day I went there I was a bit nervous because it was the first time I was going to be in real English lessons. When we arrived at the High School, some students were waiting for us, they gave us like an ID and we went with them to their lessons. Some of us had Photography, others Politics, Maths, etc. After some lessons they showed us the high school. I thought it was very small but I was wrong because it was really big. I liked it a lot because it had a lot of different subjects that my high school hasn`t got. Apart from that, and that was my favourite place there, there was a room with some sofas, a table football, coffee and tea machine, some CD players, etc. It was so nice to go

there because you had to enter a code. We also had a voucher to have lunch in the canteen and we were always the first ones to arrive in order not to queue! Every week day we went to the School, we met our students and sometimes we went with them to their lessons and others stayed in the 6th room. The last days we started to go to the Spanish lessons and we played there with the English students who were studying Spanish. That was so nice because we played some games with them! Once, we had a barbecue with some of the students who are coming here on October. It was so good! For me, it was a pity to leave Queen’s Park High School because I liked it very much and we met very nice people! GEMA Mª PARRA MARTÍN

I had a great time in Chester with my classmates. My shadow was a

great person. His name is Lewis but I met other people like Tom. He

was very nice with us when he came bowling.

In the high school I went to a few lessons in English. I went to a

Chemistry lesson and to other two Psychology lessons. It´s difficult to

understand Science lessons in English but I tried it and it was

interesting. Everybody in Queen´s Park High School was very nice. I

can remember that the Chemistry teacher was mad. He started to sing

in the middle of the class and he let us listen to classical music in

class.

Steve was very kind with us when he organized the barbecue and

when he took us to Wales by bus. There we did some ice skating with

some unexpected accidents.

I had an amazing time there so I would like to repeat it another time. I

think I will go to Chester in the future to visit my host family.

Alejandro Soria Velasco

CHESTER On the 13

th of September, the pupils of the Zurbaran high school travelled to Chester,

where we were going to spend a week

improving our English with the help of

our host families and the English

students of the Queen´s Park High

School.

During our stay in Chester we had

different kinds of activities which

allowed us to have fun and enjoy but

they also taught us new things about

the English culture, especially where

we learnt more things was in the

Queen´s Park High School with the help of our

English students who behaved and treated us very

well.

I liked the high school very much, both the teaching

method, and the building and its classrooms. The

teaching method was very different from that of the

Spanish because students could choose the subject

that they want to study. And then, the high school

was very big and had incredible facilities.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this trip and most

importantly, allowed me to learn more about the

English educational method and improve my English. ALBA I. PASCUAL

Chester experience

Before going to Chester I had thought that everything could be different from Spain: the

food, people, time, the currency, how they drive…but I didn´t think about the high

school.

The lessons and the form of teaching are also different. They can have a three hour

History lesson day. When they are in class, the teacher usually plays music on his

mobile while the students are doing their exercises or reading, so each student can listen

to it, too. They also have a room for the people that are in Bachillerato. They have a

password to enter and there they have two stereos in which they can install their mobile

and the people that are there can listen to it. There we were playing cards each day. So it

was very different.

I was in some lessons. In the History lesson we were reading and watching a history

film, in the Geography lesson we were listening to Manolo Escobar and these songs,

and in the Spanish lesson we were talking in Spanish and we had to correct some

exercises of the students.

Each day was different because we had to visit some places and also because we didn´t

feel bored there, even if we had been in a place like three times before we enjoyed it

like the first time, so we enjoyed a lot. Whenever that we had free time, all boys were

together, so it was really nice and we had very good time while we were there. I wish

that I could repeat it. CÉSAR CARRASCO LEÓN

MY EXPERIENCE IN CHESTER

Hello everybody! I´m going to talk about my experience in Chester. We

arrived in Chester on the 13th of September and we returned to Spain just

yesterday.

We really had a very good time, the families were fantastic and nobody had

any problems with them.

In the school everything was very good, all the people kept an eye on us.

They were also very polite and helped us with everything that we needed.

We had a “shadow student” in the school, and it was great because we went

to their lessons and it was a new way to learn English. My shadow student

was nice. I got on well with her and she spoke to me very slowly because if

she had talked very quickly I wouldn´t have been able to understand her

very well. It was a great experience.

In general all the students tried to talk and play games with us, they were

so friendly.

Cristina Suárez Barroso

ARTICLE ABOUT CHESTER

At last the day that we had been waiting for all throughout the summer

arrived, the day when we had to take the airplane to go to Chester. We have

been working in this project for a year and here it was the result of our job,

eight days in Chester plus two days in Liverpool.

We arrived in Chester and we had a good welcome the on Steve’s and our

host families´ part. We were in a good high school where there were nice

and sociable people; we were with them in their lessons and we went on

excursions. Our stay in Chester and in the Queen´s Park High School was

very rewarding, we have learnt much and we definitely had a good time

there. We’ll never forget this experience. DIEGO ROMÁN

Chester Experience

Well, the people there were fine! They were very funny and

they helped us with our homework. But the best without any

doubt was TOM! He was all day with us and he went bowling

with us, too.

Steve is a fantastic teacher and his lessons are fantastic! There

the lessons are amazing! Because they only have three

subjects; Then they have an amazing room where they can

stay there... eating... studying... I LOVE IT!N LUCÍA GONZÁLEZ

Review on Chester’s experience

We spent a week with some students and teachers from (the) Queen’s Park

High School and it was a wonderful week. On Friday we met our shadows

and we went with them to some classes. I went to Chemistry and the

teacher was joking every time, it was a funny class.

Then on Saturday we had a barbecue, the cook was the Chemistry teacher,

after eating the meal we played football, Spain vs. England, it wasn’t a

serious match but I think that we won. On Sunday we went to Alton

Towers with the people that we had met in the barbecue but we only stayed

with them on the bus.

The rest of the week we went to the school like we had done on Friday, we

used to go to one class every day and before that we used to play “tute” in

the Sixth form Room

I liked this educational system very much. They only have the subjects that

they want and they have several free hours and they can rest in the common

room. It was a fantastic experience attending lessons in English and in

England because of the different way of learning and I really learnt

English, too. PABLO LEÓN

My experience in Chester

If I am honest, I am surprised about how the students have

lessons in Queen´s Park High School or in England in general. The students are really lucky in Bachillerato there because they only have to take three subjects and there is not so much

pressure on them.

I enjoyed attending some lessons like the Spanish lessons, and the Psychology ones. I liked psychology lesson a lot because I was able to follow it very well and it was easier than I could never imagine. On the contrary, I didn´t really like the first lesson I went to because it was Physics! I hate that sort of things, but my pen-pal

Anna only studies Physics, Maths and another one that I don´t

remember well.

As well as I have just said, I like Psychology very much, so I went with María and with Tom to this class. Tom is the Spanish people´s friend! Haha :) he accompanied us to some places, too. I also liked the sixth from´s room that the Bachillerato students have there! We want one of them in our high school! Another thing is the food... I didn´t really liked the food in the canteen, but the

students from there said the same.

I also had a good time with my pen-pal´s brother and with her

friends. We were playing cards and practising our English with them. The trips with the students were really nice, too. We went to a lot of places like Alton Towers, ice skating and bowling. I had a really

good time with them. ESTEFANÍA IMPELLICIERI

MY EXPERIENCE IN CHESTER I don’t know how to describe my stay in Chester. There have been many sensations together. There we got to another culture, another gastronomy, There, everything was different … We only stayed there for ten days but in these days we have had the chance to see a little bit of another country that for sure most of us won’t forget, not even a second of this extraordinary experience. After spending there several days, and of course enjoying a great stay in Queen’s Park High School, I can say that this has been a new experience about which I can tell you loads of anecdotes. I’d like to emphasize mainly the differences like, for example, the various kinds of teaching methods for example, and the fact that there weren’t so many students in

each classroom as in Spain. One thing that really caught my attention was that in Queen’s Park High School the teachers had a really different way of teaching, at least which is what I can say from the little time that I spent there. The most remarkable thing was they tried to make their lessons more bearable, what I really think that it is positive because it makes it easier for the students to participate. The room that was more attractive for Spanish students was “The Sixth Formers´”. The main reason was that we had never seen something similar in our school. We don’t have the chance of having a room only for students where listening to music, having some coffee, or being there during break time Finally I want to thank people in the high school that treated us very well and helped us in every way possible. They made our stay there be more enjoyable. María Prieto Rios

Everything started some months ago. Our teachers suggested us taking part in a project with the possibility of travelling to England. All of us accepted and started to work quickly on it. We first started to exchange letters with some students from “Queen’s Park High School”, and from time to time we gathered together to talk about new things for the project. We kept on looking for information and researching about things from Chester, such as the History, educational system, flag… Then we started to work hard to catch up with everything. We divided the work in groups to make it easier and bearable. Once we finished the project it was time to go to England. It was a marvellous experience of 10 days. We all enjoyed a lot and had new experiences. We met our pen-pals and we were the whole day with them. I have to say we have been very lucky lo live this unique experience. I have had a wonderful time there, and I have to thank everybody who helped to carry out the project; without them, nothing could have been possible. Congratulations on your work!!!

JOSE IGNACIO VERDUGO FRAILE

It has been the first time that I was in England and in my opinion it was an unforgettable

experience. We were in Chester and there I felt like at home with our families.

I liked this trip because I have done a lot of things that I had never done like getting on

a plane and ice-skating. I have learnt new things and although I know that my English

isn´t better than before I´m very happy.

One of the best moments was when we visited The Old Trafford and The Anfield. I

have to say that the hostel was brutal too.

It wouldn´t have been the same without my classmates and friends. I have to thank

teachers for making it possible. I would repeat a similar experience because It has been

very enriching. Alberto Porras Martín

I really like the experience in Queens Park High School! I loved their room where they

can eat and drink coffee… but the worst is the canteen, I prefer to have lunch at home!

However I could not say anything bad because the teachers (especially Steve) and the

students (especially Tom and Daniela Hyatt) are very lovely! KATIA PELOCHE

We travelled to England on the 13th of September and we came back

on the 23rd. It has really been an unforgettable experience!

We have had a good time and also good weather. On the second day

we went to Queen’s Park High School and we met out pen-pals.

We accompanied them to classes. On the first day I attended Chemistry

and Physics. Physics was boring but Chemistry wasn’t bad or all.

The next day my shadow didn’t come first period, so I went to the Maths

lesson on my own. I love Maths and I had some curiosity about the way

Maths is taught. This class was easy to understand, I could understand

Maths vocabulary (studying Maths in the bilingual section has its results at

the end) and I knew how to do the exercises. Lara was there. She was

checking my results and they were correct.

Another day I went to a Spanish lesson and I enjoyed it, Steve is a good

teacher and he is funny. But, Steve, I have to say you that you cheated.

Mila doesn’t speak Spanish in our English lessons and she doesn’t let us

speak Spanish! Haha!

I have to say that I liked the 6th formers room, I wish we had one!!

There are a lot of advantages: we have improved our English a lot, from

pronunciation to new expressions. We have spent many days with

people from a different country and we have learnt a lot from them and

them from us, I hope. The only disadvantage that I found was the meal in

the school…

The relation with the 6th form students was so good, someone of them

came with us to talk, play CARDS with us (with the cards) or (the table

football), one day we had to do an interview them and they were willing

to help us…

Finally, it has been a beautiful experience and I have enjoyed it so so

much!! NOELIA GRANADO

I had never imagined I was going to be in a 3-hour Psychology lesson!

But there I was, on my first day in Chester after having met my

English pen-pal…what a moment! The reality is that this journey has

been amazing… Chester is a beautiful city with charming people and a

very good weather (thinking about the whole England). But the best of

the trip apart from meeting English students has been the huge amount

of activities we have done there. Thanks to Steve we had a delicious BBQ,

we had a little dangerous ice-skating experience and we also had a very

enjoyable day in Alton Towers, a beautiful theme park.

I did not want to come back home and the goodbye was a little

frustrating… Anyway, we are all looking forward to seeing English

students this October, so the pain is not going to last longer. It will be a

pleasure to teach them what the real “fiesta” is like (everything at their

own risk). Áurea Sánchez Hernández

My experience in Queen's Park High School

I wasn't really excited about going to school on the 14th. We had just arrived the night before so waking up at six o’clock, catching the bus and walking the rest of the way to school wasn’t a good plan. Our family, The Currans, John and Jean, has been really welcoming to us. I guess it must be difficult to host two foreign students in your home without knowing anything about them. For that reason we are really thankful to them.

The first impression of the school we had was maybe that we were going into a huge enormous old building. The walls of the high school are made of red brick and there are lots of big windows of a strange style. What a surprise when we entered in, the school was bigger than we had thought! Our school is really small and suddenly we were trapped there!

Luckily we had our “shadows”. The sixth grade students have been really nice with all of us and have kept at always an eye on us. We have practice our English a lot with them. I think we have learnt many new words and we have improved it. They have taken us with them into all their lessons, they have explained us what to do or to say in different and difficult situations… they have been our friends for a couple of days and I hope this friendship had lasted a lot more than four days. Anyway we have to thank them all.

Teachers have also been nice with us. I can understand how bothering can be having a pair of strange students looking at you as if there wasn’t anything else in the room trying to catch some words. I have to say that classes have turned out to be funnier and more entertaining than we had expected (Spanish lessons are great!). What we probably have enjoyed the most was the common room. This was something strange for us. We don’t have it in Spain. There we could get to know a little bit more about teens like us and what they do in their free time here. You are lucky to have a room like that. We are now starting to fight for it here.

Our trip to Alton Towers was amusing! Even to me! I am afraid of roller coasters but just the company of my mates made worth it going. Alton Towers is a really big and beautiful place. You have rides for little kids you can ride so I didn’t get bored. I wish I could ride the water rides but the weather wasn’t really fine. General comment of the day: GREAT!

What else can I say? It has been wonderful that you have let us know your school deeply. I hope we hadn’t been much trouble and that you have had such an amusing time as we have had. See you in October and thanks again.

SARA POBRE TRANCÓN

Chester experience

The days I spent in the school were

fantastic. I met many people and the same

time I learnt many values like appreciating

what you have.

In general the students were very

pleasant with us but sometimes i got

the impression that they forgot that

some Spanish people were here. One

boy was the best of all. His name is Tom and he worried about all of us all

throughout the week.

The teachers in the school were very

friendly and they gave ordinary lessons all

the time. Some of them had the same

strategies as the Spanish teachers. The

lessons there were very difficult to

understand but I understood some words.

For me the best of all school

was the room where the

students could be in their

free time. They could listen

to music, eat, take some

photos, study, connect with other people,

play table football, play cards...NOELIA MARTÍN

MY EXPERIENCE IN CHESTER I don’t know how to describe my stay in Chester. There have been many sensations

together. There we got to another culture, another gastronomy, There, everything

was different … We only stayed there for ten days but in these days we have had

the chance to see a little bit of another country that for sure most of us won’t

forget, not even a second of this extraordinary experience.

After spending there several days, and of course enjoying a great stay in Queen’s

Park High School, I can say that this has been a new experience about which I can

tell you loads of anecdotes.

I’d like to emphasize mainly the differences

like, for example, the various kinds of

teaching methods for example, and the fact

that there weren’t so many students in each

classroom as in Spain. One thing that really

caught my attention was that in Queen’s

Park High School the teachers had a really

different way of teaching, at least which is

what I can say from the little time that I

spent there. The most remarkable thing was they tried to make their lessons more

bearable, what I really think that it is positive because it makes it easier for the

students to participate.

The room that was more attractive for Spanish students was “The Sixth Formers´”.

The main reason was that we had never seen something similar in our school. We

don’t have the chance of having a room only for students where listening to music,

having some coffee, or being there during break time

Finally I want to thank people in the high school that treated us very well and

helped us in every way possible. They made our stay there be more enjoyable.

María Prieto Ríos

CHESTER EXPERIENCE

I’m sure that my experience in Chester will never be forgotten. I was

really pleased with my host family and in the high school.

The thing that I most liked about the high school was the sixth form

room. It would be great to have one here, in our high school!

I also liked the classes, especially one of Physics about Relativity.

The worst of the high school was the canteen. Everyday after eating

we were in the McDonalds. GERMÁN MATEOS

My English experience

We got a little bit sad with the end of summer, but

we know that we had a fantastic trip ahead. From my

point of view this trip was like balsam to make our

return to classes more relaxed.

On the 13th of September we took the plane with

destination to England,more exactly to Liverpool. This

was the first time I was taking a plane and I was a

little nervous but I have to say that I enjoyed the

flight. When we arrived in Liverpool we were for from

Chester that was the place where we had to say.

In Chester we met our “parents” (the people we

were gong to live with. We had to be in pairs in each

house and I decided to

be and to live this

experience with my

friend Noelia

Granado .Our

“parents” were so

kind, they locked after

us every moment, they

gave us a packedlunch every day in case we didn´t like

the canteer´s food.

Every day we used to wake up very early and we had a

big breakfast. The timetables of England were so

different from the Spanish ones. Then, we used to go

to the high school with our

English partners, my Partners´s

name was Bethany Bayliss. She

was so kind, so funny and so

interesting. Her highschool was

so big and so modern, in which

they could make tea, or coffee it was like a relaxinf

class in which you could relax before an exam, or

simple when you don´t have a class, you can go there

and do whatever you want.

When we finished the school, we could go shopping,

visit museums or visit relax drinking something in

starbucks .Sometimes we went on some trips, to

Manchester, or for example one day we went to Alton

Towers, this is a big and enormous amusement park .It

had a lot of very funny rides.

I have to say that this trip has been one of the best

one in my life. We finished this trip in Liverpool. In

my opinion Manchester and Chester are more beautiful

as cities than Liverpool.

So, we made our last shopping and the morning of the

23rd of September we too the plane back to Spain.

It was a fantastic experience! Débora Pilo González

Queen’s Park High School My experience in the Queen’s Park High School was so interesting. The first day I went there I was a bit nervous because it was the first time I was going to be in real English lessons. When we arrived at the High School, some students were waiting for us, they gave us like an ID and we went with them to their lessons. Some of us had Photography, others Politics, Maths, etc. After some lessons they showed us the high school. I thought it was very small but I was wrong because it was really big. I liked it a lot because it had a lot of different subjects that my high school hasn`t got. Apart from that, and that was my favourite place there, there was a room with some sofas, a table football, coffee and tea machine, some CD players, etc. It was so nice to go there because you had to enter a code. We also had a voucher to have lunch in the canteen and we were always the first ones to arrive in order not to queue!

Every week day we went to the School, we met our students and sometimes we went with them to their lessons and others stayed in the 6th room. The last days we started to go to the Spanish lessons and we played there with the English students who were studying Spanish. That was so nice because we played some games with them! Once, we had a barbecue with some of the students who are coming here on October. It was so good! For me, it was a pity to leave Queen’s Park High School because I liked it very much and we met very nice people ! GEMA PARRA

Comenius experience. I don’t know how to describe this experience, there have been so many sensations together … I could describe this experience as “DIFFERENT” , because for me it has been a different experience from any that I have ived before. I think that this Comenius “The Comenius Project ” has been a new experience for me, my classmates, our High School “ I.E.S Zurbarán ”, our teachers and of course, for the English students. We have been able to share a bit of culture, gastronomy … among the people who took part. The Comenius experience has given us the opportunity to know another country, to practise our English and to make good friends. I’m sure that everybody has enjoyed this experience, and we will enjoy it more when we remember the anecdotes, our first day in the other country. Finally I want to thank people in our school and in Queen’s Park High School for making it easier and entertaining. I think that most of us would repeat it. This experience has been REALLY FUNNY !!!!!!

MARÍA PRIETO RIOS