Linda Hirons looks back at three visits to twinned cities while a teacher at Sidney Stringer.

Can you tell me what got you interested in international exchanges in the first place?

It began with the council bringing visiting dignitaries from our twinned cities to Sidney Stringer, where I worked as a Drama teacher. It was seen as a pioneering community school and was close to the council office so easy to get to. The first group we saw was from our twin city of Caën, Normandy. The group came into the theatre, where I was rehearsing a pantomime for our annual Christmas show. There was interest expressed in the tradition of English pantomime and this resulted in an invitation for us to visit and perform to young people in Normandy. Thus began a series of exchanges between our Youth Theatre groups to five of our twin cities:

Caën, Normandy, France 1979

Kiel, Germany 1980

Volgograd, Russia 1983

Coventry , Rhode Island and Coventry, Connecticut, USA 1984

Jinan, China 1985

We received groups of young people from each of these cities the year following our visits.

What visits do you remember?

All of the visits have special memories for both teachers and staff. Although there was a fluctuating group of youngsters involved each year, there was a core group, who are still in contact with me and each other to this day. The Theatre group spanned a good age range from 11 years to adult ( mostly Staff members and some ex-pupils) performing and working backstage. In each of our twin cities, we were treated as honoured guests, not only fed and accommodated, sometimes in hostels, sometimes with families, but there was always a programme of visits and an official reception with the local Mayor or Council. For pupils from an inner city, multi-ethnic school, I can confidently say that these experiences were life changing for most of them.

How did you set the visits up?

The contacts were enabled by visits to the school in the first instance. One member of staff was responsible for all of the practical arrangements and liaising with the Council, who were fully supportive. The exchanges were considered to be very important and messages and gifts were taken for the local Council in each city. A member of Coventry City Council always accompanied us. We all paid towards the cost of the visit, with extra help where needed and we got sponsorship from local businesses. For two of the exchanges we used Terry coaches. Terry, who owned the Coach Company, came along and took us there for free and became one of the crew backstage. Phil Mead, a well known local business man and philanthropist supported us, along with many other people. We did a lot of fundraising events too. The Council supported us with the return visits.

What do you and your students learn from visiting these other places?

We have to remember that the world was opening up at that time. In the 1960s and early 1970s people just did not go abroad that often, certainly not our students, and I think there was a lot of optimism that this was possible.

Going away is a window on the world, it is seeing how others live and we learned that people from different cultures are not that different from us when you meet on a personal level, even if, at an international level, there is a lot of conflict. I think that our pupils were quite receptive to other cultures because of the school they attended. As already stated, I know from some of our students, making those visits, that they were life changing, particularly when they stayed with families in Germany and America.

On a personal note, I have been involved with the Coventry Association for International Friendship since 2002. I am now the Secretary and along with Dave, my husband, play a very active rôle in keeping the twinning links alive. We have been involved with many exchange visits as adults. The roots for this desire started with that vey first exchange.

What advice would you have for anyone planning school visits today?

It is a very different world today. The world is a smaller place. Visits and holidays abroad are far more commonplace. Modern technology and a variety of TV channels mean that we can view the world and different cultures from our armchairs and there is less desire from young people to participate in the way that we did 40 years ago. However, the recent visit to Dresden by the young people of Cardinal Newman School perhaps signals a renewed interest. It does need the dedicated desire and commitment from teachers and that has become increasingly difficult with the demands of the Curriculum. Also, the issue of young people staying with host families is an obstacle to overcome. The only answer, I believe maybe hostel accommodation but with opportunity to mix and share in projects. Of course, there are always links using technology (Skype, Zoom etc) to keep the friendship going.