CHILDREN said ‘Buenos días’ as they visited Spain for a multi-cultural exchange project.

Pupils from St Augustine’s School in Weymouth swapped cultural tales and learnt new skills during the trip.

They, along with school groups from Germany, Italy and Poland, were hosts of a primary school in Utebo, a town close to the Spanish city of Saragossa.

The visit is part of a two-year cultural project which sees each school from the participating countries host a group for a week under a different theme which guides the events that are organised.

The theme for the Spanish week was festivals. Eleven St Augustine’s pupils, aged between nine and 11, and five staff members, including headteacher Michael Lobo, joined the trip. The visit is also beneficial to teachers as they can share ideas and see how the other schools are run.

This project, part of the British Council-supported Comenius programme, aims to provide pupils with the chance to discover and promote their own abilities and talents while sharing their cultural heritage, including music, literature and sport. It also encourages youngsters to learn about new technologies.

A spokesman for St Augustine’s said: “The pupils took part in classroom-based lessons, sports activities and a talent show entitled ‘Curtain up for European Talents’.

“The classroom lessons are curriculum-based and aimed at building friendships, so it could be an English or maths lesson where the pupils are encouraged to work together.

“Each school takes part in the talent show. Our school performance was two traditional ‘country dances’ as seen at many folk festivals.

“The Spanish performance mapped out the main festivals that take place from January to December.

“The German students focused on the Christmas festival, which has many similarities to ours in England.”

St Augustine’s is planning its next trip to Berlin in April.

The Weymouth school will welcome visitors in June.