European school teachers visited Harden last week to learn about English culture — and got a lesson in wet summers!

The representatives from primary schools in France, Spain, Turkey and Poland attended Harden Primary School last Wednesday in pouring rain to listen to pupils sing the national anthem, watch them maypole dance and plant trees to represent the different nations. The visit was part of the British Council-run Comenius Project to swap ideas about how to improve schools’ carbon footprints.

Deputy head teacher at Harden, Angela Smith, said: “We will be working together for two years learning about each other’s school cultures.

“At the end of our time we will work out who is the best at looking after the environment and who is the worst and see what everyone can do to improve. The idea is for teachers and pupils to understand environmental issues on a more international scale.”

The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Peter Hill, attended the event on his first engagement since being appointed to the post. He brought with him a “mini-mayor” outfit to give to lucky school council member Ben Fryer, who shadowed Cllr Hill all afternoon to see what it was like to be a mayor.

Cllr Hill said: “I think what they are doing here is brilliant. That people from all over the world are approaching these things together — it gives you a bit of hope for the future that people are working together to understand each other.”