At 7pm on Thursday 11^th June 2015, ten Year 5 children welcomed visitors from our twin town of Euskirchen in Germany as part of the Basingstoke Festival of Sport; this was our 7^th year of being involved. Along with 4 other coaches consisting of footballers, gymnasts, athletes, dancers and many more of Euskirchen’s finest sportsmen and women, our guests arrived at Basingstoke Leisure Centre and were taken back to their host houses for dinner and much needed sleep. On the Friday, we invited our visitors into school and after a morning in class, we then made our way to the hall for the big game! Unfortunately, due to the delightful English weather, our original plan to play rounders on the field was changed to benchball. Sadly our height (or lack of!) was against us and the Germans stormed ahead to win the competition 5-0. We congratulated them on their victory and then played some fun race game games in mixed nationality teams. After school, the children went back to their host family’s homes. They then spent the Saturday with their host families; many visiting London and enjoying the celebrations for the Queen’s birthday. On Saturday night, we met up with the other sports teams to celebrate the weekend’s events at an Awards Ceremony held at Queen Mary’s College. We then sadly waved goodbye to our guests on Sunday morning. Next summer, we will make the return journey to Euskirchen to visit them.

It was another incredible event, where new friends were made and wonderful memories were created by all involved.