St Stanislav’s international programme was strengthened this weekend (10th-12th May 2019) through a visit to our school from Mr Paul Vanthournout and Mrs Martine De Zutter from the Sint-Josefsinstituut College in Torhout, Belgium and Mrs Susan Coontz from Wellington School in Ayr, Scotland. This was our Belgian guests’ first visit to Slovenia but Mrs Coontz has been a regular visitor to St Stanislav’s during our twelve-year partnership with Wellington School. Together, the three schools are planning a new Erasmus+ project which will celebrate the strong cultures of our small countries.
This is how Mrs Coontz saw this brief, yet pleasant stay in Ljubljana: “Thank you very much to all at St Stanislav’s Institution for an unforgettable weekend with you in Ljubljana. On Friday afternoon the city was looking her very best in the bright spring sunshine for my arrival and we so enjoyed our trip to Lake Bled on Saturday. Walking round the lake let us build up an appetite before our delicious lunch overlooking the island. The highlight of the weekend was most definitely the 26th Annual Concert of the Choirs and Orchestra of St. Stanislav’s Institution in Cankarjev dom. John Rutter’s The Mass of the Children was delivered with great precision and musicality and parents, teachers and friends will be justifiably proud of the pupils’ performance. The natural enthusiasm of the singers shone through in the second half of the programme in songs from the shows. On Sunday, the weather was distinctly Scottish – cold and wet – and we spent the morning exploring the old town. As I write this, in my head I can still hear the young voices singing Triglav moj dom kako si krasan and I hope that it will not be too long before I visit your beautiful country again.
Thank you to everyone who made our visit so enjoyable and especially to Mr Simon Festanj, Mrs Lily Schweiger Kotar, Mrs Alenka Battelino and Mrs Valerija Lah Peternel. We look forward to welcoming you to Scotland soon. /Susan Coontz, Wellington School, Ayr, Scotland/