On Wednesday 27th March, students had a wonderful opportunity to attend a lecture in school given by Nicolas Pasternak-Slater. Nicolas is the nephew of Russian poet and writer, Boris Pasternak, who wrote Doctor Zhivago and has translated many of the works of Shakespeare from English into Russian. He provided details about the roots of his artistic family environment, and showed students sketches of his family by his grandfather, Leonid. Nicolas spoke openly about the reality of his family’s migration to Germany, and later to England, as well as the family’s separation and the dangers they faced during wartime and Soviet rule. He explained the sympathy he feels towards today’s migrants, who face the challenge of rebuilding their homes and learning a new language, although he noted that his own family language of Russian has been able to survive such emigration and has provided his family with a connection to their origins. We would like to thank Nicolas for sharing his family story with our students.
German exchange trip to Hamburg
When we were not out on trips, our pupils were attending lessons with their exchange partners in our partner school, the Gymnasium Oldenfelde in Hamburg-Rahlstedt. It was fascinating to see the many differences between the English and German school systems.
