The Europa Centre is a simulation centre for children and adults learning modern languages. The Europa Centre is owned and managed by the London Borough of Havering. It is set out in the form of a village with shops, a hotel, market square, café, post office, railway station and many other facilities. Each week up to 500 students from schools and colleges visit with their class to simulate a trip to France, Germany or Spain.

All the signs and shop names are changed in line with the language of the visit and the roles of the "inhabitants", such as shop assistants, waiters or policeman, are played by native speakers of the language concerned.

A visit to the Europa Centre enables students to simulate a trip to a foreign country and to practise and develop their language skills in a supportive environment. The native speakers who "inhabit" the Centre are trained to be aware of the difficulties faced by language learners and to exploit the opportunities for using their language during the various stages of a visit.

The stress is on creating an environment in which students will be prepared and motivated to listen to, speak, read and even write the language they are studying.

For more information about the Europa Centre and how to organise a visit, please download our Teachers' Guide by clicking the link on the right-hand of this page.

WORKBOOK TEMPLATES: These are also available for downloading by clicking the links on the right-hand of this page. If you wish to use them for your visit please download them, modify them as appropriate and print them for your students. The workbooks are in both PDF and Microsoft Word format. If you wish to use the workbooks as they are, the PDF file will keep the original formatting, but you will need the Microsoft Word file if you wish to modify the workbooks.

PASSPORT TEMPLATE: The French passport template can be downloaded and printed for pupils to complete before they arrive at the Europa Centre. The template is designed to be printed double-sided on A4 paper, and then cut along the line to make two passports which should then be folded in half.

MISSING PERSON ACTIVITY: The instructions for this activity can be downloaded along with sample activity sheets for pupils. You do not need to print the sheets for your students - if you wish to include this activity in your visit please indicate this on your visit requirements sheet. The pupils' sheets will be provided by the Europa Centre during the visit.