Pupils from U3KD have been finding out more about France in the last three weeks. They were divided into groups and were given a topic to explore: the geography of France, French speaking countries, the secondary school system, Paris, French fashion, French music and of course, French food! The girls then gave a presentation to the rest of the class, who listened carefully (most of the time!) and took notes.

Everyone put a lot of effort into it and impressed me by their creativity - one group of students pretended to be air hostesses on an Air France flight to Lyon and even designed some bérets to wear! - by how much they had learned independently, and by their expert use of ICT when making PowerPoint presentations.

 At the end of their presentation one group asked their fellow pupils to tell them what they had learnt and, if the facts were accurate, French sweets were handed out; unsurprisingly, all the audience had their hands up!

Some of the girls also dressed up as the French flag, wearing blue, white and red. We listened to the ‘Marseillaise’ (the French national anthem); we had the opportunity to see and touch some French designer clothes; and we found out which French singers are popular currently.

The activity was concluded by a quiz in which they all did very well.

Since the beginning of the year the girls have been exploring cultural and other aspects of France as well as learning the language. For instance, we found out that the countryside covers 80% of French territory, that there are more than 40 French speaking countries around the world, that ‘la haute couture’ was invented by an Englishman and that there are between 350 and 400 types of French cheese…incroyable, n’est-ce pas?

Mlle Mahé

Editor’s note: Miss Mahé will be greatly missed by staff and pupils when she leaves. Her younger pupils have even drawn a map, highlighting Kingsley, so that she will know where we are and come back and visit!