STAFF from a Keighley school who have returned from a teacher exchange trip to Indonesia have praised the hospitality of their hosts.

Assistant head teacher Eileen Llewellyn and modern foreign languages faculty leader Dieter Verfuerth, both of Holy Family Catholic School, visited Darunnajah Islamic Boarding School, which has had a link to Holy Family for 10 years.

Their trip earlier this month (April) celebrated the 10th anniversary of the link.

The pair taught several classes of Indonesian youngsters. As well as touring the boarding school's main site in the capital Jakarta, they visited two of its smaller satellite schools and went to the historic Borobudur temple near Yogyakarta.

Mr Verfuerth said: "We could tell that the pupils there looked forward to being taught by someone different. It was a chance for them to hear English spoken by a native speaker."

Mrs Llewellyn said: "The link between our two schools is reciprocal and we learn from each other. They are very impressed by the discipline they've seen at Holy Family.

"In the centre of Jakarta the biggest mosque in South East Asia and a Catholic cathedral are side by side. I think it's a fantastic symbol of the understanding that can exist between two different religions."

She explained that between 10 and 16 students from Darunnajah are due to come to Holy Family in autumn of this year.

She said she was keen to hear from local Muslim families interested in hosting these pupils during their stay. They can e-mail her at Eileen.Llewellyn@holyfamily.ngfl.ac.uk for more details.