A TEACHING twosome from Blackburn sampled a taste of Italy during an exchange trip.

Samantha Bassett and Gill Booth, from Kelsall Avenue Nursery School, spent a week at the Play English Bilingual School in Monza, near Milan, as part of a special information exchange visit.

And they found time to pick a little bit of Italian while they were there saying "grazie mille" instead of "thank you very much" and eating "merenda" at break-time instead of a snack.

Miss Bassett (left), 31, a teacher and Mrs Booth (right), 42, a nursery nurse, travelled to see their Italian counterparts to discuss the High Scope Approach, a system to boost children's self-esteem and independence, which Kelsall Avenue Nursery has in place and which the Monza school would like to adopt.

Miss Bassett said: "We spent a very interesting and enjoyable week working with staff and youngsters at the school.

"The nursery is bilingual so, of course, there were no language barriers as everyone spoke English.

"We even had time to see the sights of Milan at the weekend and to bring a few souvenirs back!"

The trip was a true exchange visit because as Miss Bassett and Mrs Booth were in Italy, Rafaella Barbiere, a nursery teacher at the Monza school was working with the Mill Hill children.

The exchange scheme was organised by Kelsall Avenue headteacher Marjorie Taylor, who went to Monza for five days in May to set up the project. Miss Bassett added: "It was the first real exchange trip and it was thoroughly enjoyable and very informative.

"It was an opportunity to look with fresh eyes at the way a different country teaches its youngsters.

"We are already talking about another exchange trip for the future but whatever happens we will be keeping up the links between the two schools. Top Five Things Miss Bassett and Mrs Booth loved about Italy

1. Pannetonne -- a cross between bread and cake filled with juicy raisins -- the teachers ate it for breakfast every morning.

2. Pizza -- much better in Italy than from the local takeaway

3. Cheap designer perfume

4. The hospitable people

5. Lovely red wine

Five things they missed about Blackburn

1. Their own beds

2. The rest of the team at Kelsall Avenue Nursery

3. Their families

4. The children

5. Their cars for getting around