Rochester, UK

From Saturday 9^th- Friday 15^th February 2019, French students from Lycée Xavier Mallet visited us in Rochester as part of the Together project. They arrived on Saturday, meeting their host families at SJWMS before going off and spending the rest of the day getting to know each other. By all accounts, this went smoothly and allowed students to bond with their host families through additional activities, such as shopping and going for meals.

Monday was spent at our school- Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School. As our pupils had to attend some lessons during the visit, the first part of the morning involved prefects taking the French students on a tour around the school in two groups. We decided this would be an interesting introductory activity, as we are a single-sex boys’ school until Sixth Form; being founded in 1701, the school has a rich history. As such, a quiz was created for the students so that they could understand how the school came into being and what it is like to study here. They also completed some ice breaker activities, such as building marshmallow and spaghetti towers, which Miss Halls then linked to an engaging discussion on gender equality in the media. There were discussions surrounding product and business names, what it is like to be a woman in the workplace and how advertising campaigns in the past may be have been unequal. Using this as inspiration, the groups were then given time to create their own gender equal products and advertising campaigns. Each group was very creative and embraced the opportunity to dispel gender bias. For instance, one group created a gender-neutral eyeliner, as they believed there shouldn’t be prejudice against men who enjoy wearing make-up – pictures of these activities can be found on this website. After lunch, which was spent with their hosts, the group reconvened for a continuation of the morning’s work. This included a lengthy conversation about toxic masculinity, showing that gender inequality affects everyone.

On Tuesday, the group was accompanied by teachers on a trip to London. We explored Westminster on foot, seeing sights such as: Big Ben, the London Eye, Downing Street, Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace. After lunch, we headed back to the coach, which took us to an Equality exhibition in Hammersmith. Whilst it had been advertised as focusing on gender equality, it was quite sparse on this front; much was gained from finding about other forms of equality, but students were not able to gather the information we had intended them to for their presentations. As such, on the drive back to school the group of teachers worked together to create research questions, based on what the students had experienced on the trip. We made the following list:

· When will there be female members of the household cavalry?

· Working mothers (the woman running the exhibition)

· Statues in London (new statue to women of WW2)

· Why do so few women study STEM subjects?

· Do you think that males progress quicker in their careers than women?

· Do you believe that there are jobs for men and jobs for women? Why is this?

· Is there an equal amount of male and female leaders in London?

· Do you think it’s right that women should be paid less for doing the same job as men because they have to take career breaks?

· How could gender equality be improved in the workplace?

Despite events in London not going entirely to plan the previous day, students were still able to gain a lot relating to gender equality in work and the economy from the questions they were given. What was particularly interesting were the discussions surrounding the similarities and differences between Britain and France. They had until Wednesday lunchtime to research; they gave their presentations in the afternoon. Each group worked well together, and the students supported those who were shy about speaking English in front of the whole group. Their research was effective, with lots of them providing solutions that could resolve the issues they were informing us about.

On Thursday, the host students remained in school and the French students went on a trip to BAE systems. Mr Alderman arranged it so that after a health and safety briefing alongside an introduction to BAE/what they do on the site, our visitors were able to experience talks on equality in the workplace and experience the simulator on an operations tour. When they returned to school, they discussed their day and reflected on what they had learned about gender in engineering in a survey. In the evening, after having free time for last minute shopping in Rochester, we all joined together for a farewell meal at a local Italian restaurant. Everyone had lovely stories to share of their time during the visit, and it was clear that the experience had a positive impact on everyone who participated.

Our French visitors departed on Friday morning, and there were tears from a few students on both sides. Some students are still in contact with their partners, which is a true testament to the impact that the Erasmus programme has.