Students from John Kyrle High School left in two school minibuses for Betzdorf, Ross-on-Wye Twin Town in Germany. I went to the school on Sunday afternoon to see the party off and take a photograph.

Meanwhile, through the wonders of modern technology, Marc Rosenkranz, the Wyenot News Correspondent in Germany photographed the students on their arrival so that the first part of their visit could be shown here whilst the visit is still in progress.

The guests visited the Mayor of Betzdorf, Bernd Brato at the town hall on Monday. The delegation, comprising fifteen students, accompanied by Mrs. Kitchiner, Mr. and Mrs. Dickson and Mrs. Sonn are visiting as part of an exchange programme with the Grammar School, Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium in Betzdorf. They will be staying until Wednesday, 21st February.

Mr. Helmut Münzel from the German Grammar School will be guiding the students during their visit. During their visit to Betzdorf Town Hall, Mayor Bernd Brato explained what has happened since their last exchange. After the hour long visit, the group explored the city of Betzdorf with their German counterparts.

During their stay in Betzdorf, the English students will be taking some excursions and of course they will visit the German Grammar School, the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium of Betzdorf.

Continued: the story in German . . .

Besuch aus der englischen Partnerstadt Ross-on-Wye empfing Bürgermeister Bernd Brato am 12. Februar 2007 IM Betzdorfer Rathaus. Die englische Delegation, bestehend aus 15 Schülerinnen und Schüler der John-Kyrle-Highschool, sind zu einem Schüleraustausch mit dem Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium nach Betzdorf gekommen.

Begleitet werden die englischen Schülerinnen und Schüler während ihres Aufenthaltes (11. bis 21. Februar 2007) von Mrs. Kitchiner, Mr. und Mrs. Dickson sowie Mrs. Sonn. Von Seiten des Betzdorfer Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasiums übernimmt Helmut Münzel die Betreuung.

Während Des Besuches IM Betzdorfer Rathaus erzählte Bürgermeister Bernd Brato, was sich in Betzdorf seit dem letzten Besuch der englischen Gäste verändert hat. Nach dem rund einstündigen Zwischenstopp IM Rathaus, an dem natürlich auch die deutschen Gastschülerinnen und Schüler teilnahmen, erkundete die Gruppe gemeinsam die Betzdorfer Innenstadt. Während Des Aufenthaltes in der Region rund um Betzdorf stehen Tagesausflüge und natürlich der Schulbesuch auf dem Programm der Gäste.

Rosemary South, who has kept the interior of Fonteine Court Retirement Complex clean for more than ten years, was presented with a long-service certificate, along with gifts and cards from the residents on Friday and I was asked by Fonteine Court manager, Rod Reynolds if I would go along and take a photo as many residents of Fonteine Court read Wyenot News regularly.

There is a human twist to Rosemary's story because next week, she sadly has to be in London to stand vigil over her adult daughter when she undergoes a serious brain tumour operation.

The presentation was a lovely opportunity for residents to say thank you to Rosemary and she had a happy time amongst friends on the occasion.

Wyenot News would like to wish Rosemary well and her daughter a speedy recovery from her operation.

After a hard fought battle in The Wyedean Rally at the weekend, local rally driver Steve Bennett has good cause to be pleased with himself. Steve came third in his class, B10, which are cars up to 1600cc. He came forty sixth overall out of 180 competitors, the majority of which were driving four wheel drive vehicles.

Steve did encounter one problem during the rally however. He was stuck in first gear for one stage of the race, but overcame this difficulty to achieve his final position. We wish him well for the future.

Although not a huge amount of students turned up for school during the snow which fell on Thursday of last week (I believe about 190) it was more or less business as usual at JKHS.

I was actually called by the school on my mobile phone whilst I was out, to come in and take photos of a snowman competition which was taking place on the school field but I had other jobs booked and by the time I was able to get there, the snowmen had begun to melt. I took photos in two ordinary lessons instead to show that at JKHS, it was business as usual. (Other than waving at the photographer during a maths lesson.)

I believe somebody at the school took some photos of the competition snowmen before their watery demise. After half term, if they send them in, I will publish them in a later edition.

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