Abbot’s Lea School heads to Germany

The head boy and head girl of Abbot’s Lea School recently represented the specialist school in Germany.

The visit was inspired by the Woolton school’s vision to be the international centre of excellence in Autism education, research and professional development.

The students took on the task of building international links with a partner school near Dusseldorf in order to facilitate future exchange trips in the future.

The students were accompanied by Micah Grimshaw, head of autism research and Development leading international schools projects and Anthony McVerry, deputy headteacher who is in charge of the richness of the curriculum offered to the students of the school.

The excursion is the first ever international school trip for the students at Abbot’s Lea School, which specialises in delivering the highest quality education for students living with Autism and a range of associated learning needs.

The four-day seminar included meeting and building relationships with overseas teachers and students, a visit to local school Fasia-Jansen-Gesamtschule, gaining a better understanding of the overseas education approaches as well as taking part in workshops jointly with students from other European schools.

The Abbot’s Lea representatives also enriched their cultural experiences through learning some German language, visiting a traditional German Christmas markets and trying out the local cuisine.

Speaking about the trip, Micah Grimshaw said: “This was a great experience for Joe and Megan who haven’t been away before on an international school trip. For someone who is autistic, travelling can be a daunting situation but we carefully ensured they were both comfortable and confident with that what the trip entailed every step of the way, in a bid to reduce any stress or anxiety they might have felt.

“Visiting Fasia-Jansen-Gesamtschule was wonderful and we have now built a promising relationship with them and look forward to welcoming them to Liverpool in autumn 2020. Other projects will include writing to one another and we will be taking a larger group of students to visit Fasia-Jansen-Gesamtschule in April 2020.”