Austrian pupils visit Ulverston Victoria High School to sample life in the South Lakes

A group of 23 students and three teachers from BG Seekirchen , in Seekirchen, were the guests of Ulverston Victoria High School last week.

The visitors took part in lessons across the curriculum and were even introduced to cricket - a sport they don’t play in Austria.

The grammar school is 15 minutes from Salzburg , the home of The Sound of Music .

The group stayed in Barrow and travelled to Ulverston by train.

On bank holiday Monday the visitors went to Liverpool and their England trip also included walking in Lake District and going to Hadrian’s Wall.

Nikki Beardsley, a modern foreign languages teacher at UVHS , said: “The visit has run very smoothly; the group got involved in lessons and they have been very appreciative.

“This is a new partnership and we want to broaden our students’ knowledge of different cultures, their knowledge of Europe and develop their leadership skills.

“We have plans for them to visit us again in September and we want to take our students to Austria next May. Our students have been encouraged to practice their German with our visitors.”

Sabine Ebner , a teacher at BG Seekirchen , said: “It’s stunning and unique here and everyone is friendly. We are also from a beautiful quiet area and we are also near the beginning of a lake district.

“We want our students to meet people from different countries. We want a real partnership and for our children to interact with English children and find out what it is like to be an English teenager and find out what it is like to have lessons in England and to have a school uniform, because we don’t have them.

“The children are talking about these different experiences and the more bridges you build the more you can broaden your horizons, and that is also what we want to give the students here when they come to our school.”

Visiting student, Patrick Pichler , 16, said: “It’s cool and there are nice people. It’s cool that the school building is old.”