Written by Bernt Pōlling-Vocke.
For two weeks I had been given the opportunity to experience life at Exeter School as part of the UK-German-Connection’s professional enrichment programme, offering British and German teachers the chance to experience their profession in a different cultural setting.
Exeter School had not been assigned to me – and by the same token to my wife, visiting Exeter School in April/May 2025 -, but had been contacted by us under the organizational wings of the programme. This had also not happened purely by chance, but due to our interest to travel and work in the country’s Southwest.
Coming from a relatively large (3,200 students, even though 2,800 are part-time) vocational school and college in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, the experience of shadowing, assisting and, albeit limited to single sessions, teaching at Exeter Junior and Senior School was obviously different from my typical workdays back home, as most of my students train in insurance and finance or complete their higher education entrance qualifications. On top of that, most German schools are not all-day schools, even though I saw that the actual time spent in classes does not differ a lot in both countries.
What is generally missing at my school are extended lunchbreaks (20 minutes max), assemblies and extracurricular activities, resulting in a typical school-day lasting from 07:50 to 1 or 2:45 p.m..
I have to conclude that both systems have their respective pros and cons – the rather all-encompassing British school versus the rather “let’s get done with it” German school, as much offered at Exeter School is what non-school-affiliated clubs offer in Germany – and with the introduction of all-day schools these systems would probably collapse.
In Germany, I usually teach in larger to much larger classes, but the comparison between an independent school and a state-run vocational school may be a bit unfair. Other than during the worst flu seasons of the past years or parts of COVID, one would never experience classes with 10 students or less. I also did not gain insight into a typical state-school in the UK.
For me, the experience of living and working in the UK opened new horizons, as I am mostly teaching English back home, but never had real “UK-experiences” before coming over, never mind that I had lived a year in Texas close to three decades ago and completed a Masters-degree in Wellington, NZ.
The closest English-speaking country to home, however, I had never visited, knew school-uniforms only from my English textbooks (a typical pros & cons-discussion-task) and had never really spent a day at an all-day school like Exeter School. I also refreshed and improved my English, as day-to-day interaction in our classrooms is limited to classroom English, meaning that the closest I come to native speakers on a daily basis are podcasts and Amazon Prime. In this regard, I picked up lots of new useful vocabulary (e.g. sieve and spatula, words one never uses as an English teacher) or catchy phrases (e.g. having a home large enough to “swing a cat”).
It’s tough for me to say what I enjoyed most during my stay. From a touristy point of view, an evening rush to Exmouth is quite recommendable and Dartmoor is a very nice escape from city-life. From a professional point of view, I enjoyed the openness and friendliness of both students, teachers and general staff at Exeter School – everybody made me feel welcome and contributed to me having a very good stay.
All in all, I can just thank everybody at Exeter School and in the families I stayed with during my stay – and of course the UK German Connection for setting up this programme in the first place. It surely is a great way for foreign language teachers in both counties to experience their profession in another country – and I surely hope to be given the opportunity once more a few years down the road.
Click here to read more about Berufsbildende Schulen Wechloy der Stadt Oldenburg
Click here to read more about UK-German-Connection
