Our Year 11 GCSE French students took their language expertise to Paris to practice their skills, take on the joie de vivre of France, and to build up the momentum to maintain the excellent results our students get in their foreign languages.
The trip saw us based at the Chateau Grande Romaine on the outskirts of the city and after an early departure on Friday morning we arrived for an evening meal and entertainment on the site.
The first full day saw a fantastic walking tour of the city which included a visit to the Eiffel Tower, a walk down the Seine, a boat cruise down it too, a visit to the Louvre, Tuileries Gardens, Place de la Concorde (which also staged a rugby fanzone), a shopping jaunt down the Champs Elysees, before an evening meal in the city.
The second day included a walk to the top of L-Arc de Triomphe to take in the views of the previous day, a visit to Pere Lachaise Cemetery to check our Holocaust Memorials, and the graves of Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde and many more, and then a visit to La Sacre Coeur and Montmatre.
On the way home there was shopping stop for gifts and the last of Mr Allman’s 1-to-1 chats about progress and school life with each student were signed off as we got back into the UK via the Channel Tunnel.
Charlie Simpson, Head of French, said: “We had four hectic, yet fantastic days, and it was wonderful to see the student embrace the city. They clearly loved it – it is hard not to be impressed by Paris – and many students talked about wanting to come back as the scale and grandeur is such an eye-opener. The trip is a real motivation for the students, they see the benefit of a foreign language, and it builds on the Normandy Trip that many students enjoy in Year 9. We are back to business in the classroom now but all of us understand the benefits of what we are working on and the desire to explore the world, and to talk to the peoples across it, is now set for life.”
