The students and staff both enjoyed our visit to Mulheim and Berufskolleg, the college and our hosts (Sabine, Joey, Martin, Harald, Nico & Merik) were incredibly friendly and accommodating. They took us on many excursions and told us a little history of Mulheim and its surrounding cities.
Staff and students were both shocked as to how hard the recession had hit, the college were unable to afford basic Microsoft licences for the computers and although both the college & hostel were not in dis-repair they desperately required a little attention and lick of paint, there were no interactive boards, iPads, state of the art printers/copiers, which really hit home how privileged we are as a country and college to be able to afford these things.
The students enjoyed working on their CAD projects in the college, they were using a new programme which they had not used before and additionally with a language barrier which they picked up easily and got through the work, they learnt many skills that they would not have learnt at Darlington College which will in turn assist them in future job applications.
The students were very independent and were able to use the public transport with ease, the public transport system in Mulheim was efficient and cheap, always on time and you could reach many shops with just a short journey.
To name a few the students visited Cologne & Dussledorf, Siemens, Mercedes Benz, Camera Obscura and The Coal Mining Museum.
Each morning the students would be awake and ready and eager to attend the college, they enjoyed working there but equally had become a “family” and enjoyed spending time with each other.
I can’t praise the students enough when I say they were an absolute credit to Darlington and Darlington College & we should recognise this and be incredibly proud of them.
Eve Madderson
Curriculum Support Assistant
Darlington College