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June 6, 2019
A new £30,000 fund has been established to support cultural exchanges for schools and pupils.
The Provost’s School Exchange Fund will offer the opportunity for schools in Renfrewshire to apply for a grant of up to £10,000 for an international exchange visit to schools in either of Renfrewshire Council’s twin towns of Gladsaxe in Denmark or Furth in Germany.
International visits have already taken place to Renfrewshire and school pupils from Skovbrynet School in Gladsaxe visited Renfrew High School last month on a film-making visit.
The young people from Skovbrynet School took part in lessons about Scotland, and spent some time getting to know their peers through a series of filmed interviews about life at Renfrew High.
This is the third time pupils from Skovbrynet School have visited Renfrew, and Renfrew High Head Teacher Billy Burke hopes the Provost’s School Exchange Fund will help the school plan a return trip to build on the friendships they have already formed.
He said: “Our young people have learned so much from the time they spent with the pupils from Gladsaxe and it’s been incredible to see how quickly pupils from the two schools bonded.
“Strengthening our international relationship with Skovbrynet School is very important to me and I hope we will be able to take a group to Gladsaxe for the first time to further develop our partnership and allow our young people to gain a greater understanding of life in other countries.”
Exchange trips will expose pupils to new cultures and languages, and pupils will improve their international awareness. As well as forming friendships, the exchanges contribute towards acceptance and understanding of different cultural traditions.
Renfrewshire’s Provost, Lorraine Cameron said: “Celebrating our strong international links is very important and the best way to learn about other cultures is to experience them first hand.
“There have been many exchanges between various groups in Renfrewshire and our twin towns of Gladsaxe and Furth and the School Exchange Fund will now offer those exciting opportunities to our young people, allowing them to visit new places and learn about how their peers in other countries live.”
