8 December 2011
Visitors aus Berlin
Once a year, students from Berlin's Knobelsdorff-Schule, located
in west Berlin's Spandau district, travel to Lewisham College as
part of the European Union's Comenius exchange programme. The
programme, which has run since 1996, sees students come to look in
at the different styles of learning in the United Kingdom, using
different techniques, tools and styles of measurement. As part of
the exchange, Lewisham College students also travel to Berlin every
year to look at the German method.
Students tour London and work on a project - this year's project
is a bilingual guide to social housing in London and Berlin - as
well as take part in a practical exchange, working on small
assignments around the Deptford campus. As part of the practical
exchange, students from Knobelsdorff-Schule worked on the Deptford
campus. Joiners built a display cabinet, while metal workers built
a gate for pedestrian access to the campus's car park. "I think
it's great," said metal apprentice Janusch Tillmann. "It's
interesting to work in a different style for a different culture,"
he said. "It was a new experience to build a gate from scratch,"
said Marvin Golchert. "We had to improvise at times because we
weren't used to the machinery, but I'm proud of what we did."
Finally, joiners and carpenters worked together to build a deck
for Deptford's students. "We want to redevelop the space for our
students to be a social place with sails for shade, artificial
grass, plants and activities for students," said project manager
David Gould. Were the German carpentry students fazed by working in
a different style? "Well, wood is wood," said Felix Klische.
The students visited Hampstead Garden Suburb and the Trellick
Tower - just as Lewisham College students visited the Staaken
Garden City and the Corbusier House in Berlin - as part of their
project, but left plenty of time for sights as well, taking in the
London Eye and a West End musical. Before they left, they had lunch
in the Brockley with tutors Erika Gaidule and Tony Rodway as well
as Head of Department Francis Stewart, where they were presented
with certificates of achievement.
They'll be back next year, along with their color-coded
zumft (traditional craftsman's dress, which most students
wore), to grace the Deptford campus with a different style of work
and the German language once again.
Want to see more? Visit our Facebook page for more pictures.