Bathgate Academy

On the second day of the trip we went to the Bathgate Academy, it's a secondary and high school, so pupils are between 11 and 18.The students there study from 8:30am to 3:30 pm exept on Fridays, when they leave school at 12:20.

We started the day by following lessons with them, then we took a little snack and went to the french lesson. We did some quizz about France and Scotland and tasted their scottish specialities like carrot cake, millionaire's shortbread... and we drank their famous soda : Irn-bru (which tasted a little bit like medicine !). That was a great opportunty to talk with the other students before taking anoher big snack. Yes, we ate a lot !

Of course, like in most of the british schools, students in Bathgate have to wear a uniform (the one you can see on the picture). In reality they really have to wear a white top and black pants (or skirt) and they can customise their bag and blaser. We talked about it with them, and they all said that even if they agree that it's good for equality between students, they would prefer to be able to wear what they want.

Concerning the classes, unlike us, they can choose their subjects which are really more attrictive than ours : cooking, expressive arts, health and well being. They are far less than us the classes (nearly 15), they have got a more unstressed relationship with their teachers compared to us (We even heard some students calling them by firstname in the art lessons !). And the classrooms are much more decorated than ours !

They have great infrastructures like a big sports field, a swimming pool... And so they propose many extra-curricular activities such as golf, football, boxercise, netball, badminton, hockey... And they do have lots of clubs (cinema, science, drama, newspaper...).

The students and teachers were very nice and welcoming. It was really interesting to see how other teenagers study in an other country.

In short, it was a GOOD DAY !