We are very proud of our International Placement Scheme at our school which sees Sixth Formers from overseas come and spend a year at the school and set up home with local families.

This year were have Tatiana Mochi and Maggie Giambenedetti from Italy and Anna Ekman from Sweden and they have settled in wonderfully into their placements.

This week the girls led the Sixth Form assembly and talked about their home city and life, their experiences at The Friary and in Lichfield, and the emotional and personal experiences such a placement brings.

The assembly gave a superb insight into the pros and cons of overseas placements which many Sixth Formers will look to take on once they are at university or in employment. These ranged from the frustrations of communication (though their English is excellent) to missing family, and different food to the lack of sun compared to the beaches near Ancona.

Carrie Cain, Assistant Headteacher, said: “Being a Languages teacher, I can only admire the fluency and confidence the girls showed in talking so eloquently about their experiences in front of such a large audience. Their presentation was fun, engaging and gave everyone the chance to reflect on living overseas.

Matt Allman, Headteacher, added: “We hugely value any opportunity for our students to experience things away from the norm and building firm friendships with overseas students opens up huge possibilities – either as inspiration to go ahead and do it yourself or simply to make lasting friends to visit in years to come.”