Year 10 Trip to Madrid

A group of year 10 students from Saltley Academy embarked on a journey filled with cultural immersion, learning, and exploration thanks to the support of the Turing grant from the DfE who allowed us to take 16 students and 3 staff on a fully funded trip to Madrid, the capital of Spain.

We set off early in the morning on Wednesday 5^th February and travelled to London Stansted to get our flight. On our arrival to Madrid, we settled in our accommodation and we quickly got ready to explore. We wandered through the bustling streets of Madrid, marveling at iconic landmarks such as Puerta del Sol, Plaza España where we watched a beautiful sunset.

Our second day was filled with enriching interactions as we met our partner school in El Retiro park for a great morning of introductions and a scavenger hunt planned by the Spanish teachers. Our students demonstrated great communication and leadership skills by working in mixed groups with the Spanish students. Congratulations to our students Natasha and Bahjo for being the winners with the Spanish group! We celebrated with some beautiful souvenirs and ice lollies for everyone. After giving our farewell for the day to our partner school, we returned to Madrid and continued our cultural education by visiting the Palacio Real and Plaza Mayor. To put the final touch to a beautiful day in Madrid, we finished by eating a delicious Spanish delicacy for dinner: paella!

On Friday we set off early in the morning to visit our partner school IES Menendez Pelayo, in the neighborhood of Getafe in the south of Madrid. Here, our students had the incredible opportunity to engage with Spanish students, fostering cross-cultural connections and language learning. We had a great tour of the school followed by experiencing lessons, where our students took part in a competition prepared by the Spanish students and had the opportunity to practice their language skills. Then they surprised us with a lovely lunch where out students got to taste the most well know Spanish dish: tortilla de patata (Spanish omelette). To end up the morning with the school, our students got taught how to dance bachata. We finally said goodbye and hope to see them visiting Saltley Academy and Birmingham next year!

Our last full day began with a visit to the Santiago Bernabeu, home to the renowned Real Madrid football club. We had the chance to learn about the team's history and see their many football awards. Following this, we had the opportunity to savour some montaditos, Spanish traditional sandwiches. After that we enjoyed the panoramic views of Madrid at the rooftop of Círculo Bellas Artes while enjoying ice cream and refreshments. As our journey was coming to an end, we enjoyed a traditional Spanish dinner of tapas, reminiscing on the memories forged during our time in Madrid.

Everyone on the trip represented Saltley Academy impeccably and all students got involved in all the activities throughout the 5 days. The trip was very enjoyable for everyone and hopefully we will get the chance to take next year 10s on a lovely visit to Madrid again!