Running Trips Abroad

For me, language learning has always been inextricably linked to travel and exploration. In my experience, learning even just a few words in the language of any country you travel to allows for a richer and more rewarding experience and, of course, opportunities to engage with native speakers in authentic situations support – and in many cases accelerate – language acquisition in ways that cannot be replicated within the classroom. My own language-learning journey has been vastly enriched by trips – both long and short – to countries where I could use my French and Spanish on a daily basis. From working as an au pair in northern France and Spanish summer school in Madrid, to my university year abroad spent in beautiful Venezuela and an amazing teacher training course in Vichy in 2018 (to name some of the most memorable experiences), opportunities to travel have empowered me to use and improve my linguistic skills, whilst simultaneously learning more about people and places through personal connections and meaningful cultural exchange.

Some years ago, I was lucky enough to be able to take a group of 25 Year Five children to northern France on a week-long residential and watched with complete joy as they embraced the language and culture, pushing themselves outside of their comfort zones and demonstrating the resilience and determination to make themselves understood in a language that they had, until that point, only ever used in the classroom. However, the Covid pandemic, the rising costs of visits and and the complexities of taking children abroad post-Brexit, saw opportunities to organise these types of trips dwindle to nothing over time.

That is, until a couple of years ago, when I attended a course where the Turing Scheme was mentioned and the idea of actually taking pupils out of the country suddenly seemed to become a realistic prospect once again. Launched in 2021, the Turning Scheme was devised to replace funding streams lost with the Erasmus Programme, following Brexit. It is a UK government programme that provides funding for UK students – and recent graduates – to participate in international education and work placements around the world, with a particular focus on enhancing skills, boosting employability, and promoting social mobility.

I applied for funding in 2023, with the support of the Global School Alliance (GSA), who helped us to find a partner school with whom to work. It is a requirement of Turing that all applicants must have set up a partnership with an establishment abroad in order to be granted funding. As a school, we already had several established links with partners in a variety of French-speaking countries, as part of the development of the ‘International Dimension’ of the curriculum, but I was very keen to have GSA support us in fostering further links in other parts of the Francophone world. In the end, we settled on Morocco as we have several children in school with Moroccan heritage and I was also keen to explore the historical links between France and parts of North Africa, as part of our school commitment to a decolonised curriculum offer. So, with the help of GSA, we set up a partnership with Hilali Targa International School in Marrakech and I set about filling in the fairly lengthy application which, if successful, would grant us funding to support a trip to Marrakech for 16 of our Year Five pupils.

In June 2024, we got the amazing news that our funding had been granted and, with GSA organising our itinerary and calculating costings, we were able to offer pupils a six-day-long trip to Morocco, with parents paying just £120 and all other funding provided by Turing. We recruited sixteen Year 5 pupils and began the process of building links with Hilali Targa International School and preparing our pupils for the trip of a lifetime. It was the best part of a year in the planning, but when we finally set off for Heathrow Airport at 7am on a Saturday morning in late April 2025, the sense of excitement – mixed with some understandable nerves – was palpable. After a safe landing and an initial day of sight-seeing, we spent three full days at our partner school, learning Arabic and French; cooking; learning about traditional Moroccan clothing; participating in sporting competitions; making friends; and learning more about life in this fascinating country.

The great thing about having a company like GSA organising the trip was that we had a wonderful guide with us for the duration of our stay, who helped show us around the city and was on hand with advice and support whenever we needed it. We also had the peace of mind that somebody at GSA was always on the other end of the phone, if there were any issues. A full itinerary – including excursions and pre-booked restaurants – was organised for us in advance and the trip ran pretty much smoothly from start to finish.

Morocco is the most fascinating and culturally rich country and Marrakech is a vibrant – sometimes chaotic – and beautiful city. I had been expecting an element of culture shock and homesickness from the children but, from start to finish, they were transfixed by the incredible sights and took everything in their stride: eating new foods, learning language and even dodging the ever-present mopeds whizzing up and down the narrow alleyways of the souk. They used their French (and newly-learned Arabic) in their interactions with children and staff in our partner school, as well as in the hotel and restaurants, and engaged in every new adventure with enthusiasm and excitement. When we finally bid our amazing guide, Youssef, goodbye at the airport on the last day, many of the children were in tears.

On our return to the U.K., I was really keen for the children to have an opportunity to share their experiences with the wider school community so we invited staff, pupils, parents, ward Councilors and our local M.P. to a wonderful celebration event to showcase everything the children had gained from their experiences in Morocco. The pupils presented their learning along with lots of pictures and videos of their travels and members of our wonderful Moroccan school community provided food and refreshments. We were even lucky enough to have the Ambassador of His Majesty the King of Morocco to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, His Excellency Monsieur Hakim Hajoui, attend the event via Zoom to talk about the historic links between the U.K. and Morocco, hear about the children’s trip and answer questions about his role as an ambassador.

Despite the relatively lengthy application process and the financial logistics involved, I would strongly recommend applying for Turing funding if you are looking for ways to expand your young peoples’ horizons, give them authentic cultural experiences and provide opportunities for them to use their language-learning in context. In an educational landscape marked by stretched budgets and increasingly limited opportunities to build cultural capital, the Turing Scheme provides invaluable experiences that would otherwise be inaccessible to many young people. With the right support from SLT and parents, and a willingness to embrace the challenges associated with international travel, we can provide our students with once-in-a-lifetime experiences that they will carry with them through their academic journey and beyond, and inspire a new generation of linguists.