Encore de photos

Le Futuroscope

Dernier jour aujourd'hui 😢

Bon matin à tous!

We are en route, direction Angleterre! We have dragged 36 reluctant and exhausted students away from their partners and the beautiful sunny coast, and piled them onto the coach armed with baguettes, pique-niques, bons souvenirs and fantastic memories of the week.

It is always emotional to see our students waving adieu to their correspondants and familles. Lots of hugging and some tears. The French parents were full of praise and enthusiasm. Their only criticism was that the week had flown by and had been too short; it was a real shame not to have had a full weekend together they said. Therefore they had to whirl our students around La Roche and the highlights of the Vendée region in the evenings, resulting in some very bleary-eyed students this morning who had been truly "gâtés" (spoilt!).

We spent our final day yesterday enjoying the spectacles and attractions of Le Futuroscope, a theme park dedicated to the moving image. A sort of homage to cinema experience. It was another scorching day as well as a national holiday in France so the park was buzzing.

Everyone enjoyed the 3D and 4D, and 5D, cinema experiences, ate their weight in ice cream (no don't worry, they have been very sensible all week!) and benefited from a bit of down time on the pedalos and the huge bean bags on offer in shady spots.

Well it won't long be long until you're hearing all about the trip for yourselves from your respective sons and daughters! Only 14 hours to go...(at time of writing)! A plus!

La fête (de la sardine!)

Bonsoir,

Another successful day completed here at La Roche. The morning was spent at our partner school, Collège Edouard Herriot, until lessons finished at lunchtime (something our students are always surprised by!), and all students headed off to spend an afternoon with their correspondant français.

On arrival, we were greeted by the headteacher and by mountains of brioche and pain d'épice (local artisanal gingerbread)! Our eager students participated in 2 lessons each, including le sport, les arts plastique, l'anglais and la musique. They noticed quite a few differences between lessons here and at home! The register in music, for example, consisted of every student standing in turn and singing their name to the whole group. Miss Lang and I are looking forward to putting this to the test on the coach tomorrow!

Students spent the whole day with their partners and began friendships that could last a lifetime. The Year 8s came back to the hostel buzzing with tales of mini golf, swimming, beach, La Rochelle, shopping and pizza! Perhaps the most intriguing of all was 'la Fête de la Sardine', a street party dedicated to... the sardine. A night of dancing, music, joviality and, well..., sardines. Harrison and Jacob seemed to have the time of their lives there anyway, their French partners assuring us that it was le super cool événement de l'année à ne pas manquer (the event of year not to be missed!).

Nos élèves spoke loads of French, or so they reassure us, so what more could we have asked for? They have had a fantastic attitude a sense of adventure all week.

We snapped some pics of them with their partners and souvenirs from the day, before we sent them to recover from the day and get an early night.

Tomorrow au Futuroscope, a theme park, and the promise of an even hotter day! We'll keep you posted.

Miss Harris

Ps

Please forgive us. Due to technical difficulties we are unable to carry out necessary annual maintenance work on the blog and therefore we are stuck in 2016. Veuillez accepter nos excuses.

Une journée de curiosités

Bonsoir à tous,

What a busy few days! First full day of fun, frivolité and français!

After a 2am start on Monday morning and 15 hour coach journey, yesterday was a blur of autoroutes, aires (service stations), and 'aribo! Our students were excited to see their French partners again and meet French partners and families for the first time in some cases.

It was great to catch up with all students this morning and hear about their first evening in France. Although they had lots of different tales (from dining at a restaurant with a view of the sea to eating rice mixed with ketchup!), they all told us that they had settled, slept well and really enjoyed the experience.

We started the day at Le Manoir des Sciences de Réaumur, a natural history 'cabinet de curiosités' dedicated to the life and work of the French scientist Réaumur. The whole morning (a tour and workshop) was conducted en français and our students really got into the spirit.

Then on to Les Sables d'Olonne, a famous seaside town, for some sun and fun. We walked along the promenade and harbour and discovered beautiful shell mosaics in the old town. All students bought une glace and une carte postale in their best French! They are so keen to soak up as much culture and language as they can, and given they have spent less than 24 hours in France they have taken in an extraordinary amount. What a fab bunch! Quel groupe impeccable!

A demain
Miss Harris

Ready for the 2017 exchange!!

It's almost time for Sheldon French exchange 2017! Youpi!

Follow this link for updates and pics. We'll fill you in on our daily adventures in La Roche sur Yon!

Miss Harris and Miss Lang