Schubart Gymnasium in Aalen, in the south-west of Germany, is a bilingual grammar school with a very innovative teacher in Bettina Schoenherr.
During the COVID lockdown she wanted to teach her then Year 9 students about Australia but didn't like the suggested texts because she thought they were full of stereotypes.
"So I decided to start a project and try to meet Australians online who could tell us about special things they do, about their lives etc," she told the Gazette via email.
She first came across Tracy Burgess, executive business manager at Blue Mountains council.
"She was very nice and did the first online meeting because she voluntarily works for WIRES and helps injured animals," Mrs Schoenherr said. "It was very interesting because, first of all, we had to look up and learn the names of all these Australian animals we did not know.
"We also got to know about Socksy, a kangaroo that had burnt his feet and tail in the great bushfire in 2020. We loved him immediately."
She later connected with Blackheathen Heather Pye, who introduced her to a range of people and got busy behind the scenes organising introductions.
These included actor and Medlow Bath resident, Shane Porteous, who spoke about the locally made film, Smoke Between Trees. Directed by Leura filmmaker, Michael Joy, the film is about Aboriginal culture, passive racism and the role people play in creating a better, more tolerant society.
Mrs Schoenherr watched the trailer and immediately liked it.
"I asked Shane if he knew that the film was coming to Europe, too. Well, two days later I got an email that I should write to the director Michael Joy, he would give me a link to the film so that I could watch with my class.
"I decided not only to watch but also to work with it in my English lessons."
She told Mr Joy, who offered to meet the students online and talk about the film and the way he works.
"Shane joined us. It was a very informative and open meeting so that everyone was absolutely fascinated."
The whole project has been so successful, Mrs Schoenherr is sending her materials to the department of education in Stuttgart.
"We think it should be implemented in our curriculum and could even play a future role in our A-level courses."
Her (now) Year 10 students were inspired by their Australian learning, Mrs Schoenherr said.
"What our teacher team dealing with Australia would really like is to find a school in the Blue Mountains we could work together with, learning about each others' cultures, life etc - and for us it would also mean improving our English language skills."
