Our new venture has begun where we try to link schools from Nord Pas de Calais with Primary schools in the North of Kent. After just a few months I have managed to match around twelve schools together – a really good achievement. This 'school' twinning is wonderful in that it puts into action their new skills and gives a huge foundation to the knowledge of the children. They have hopefully been taught from an early age and putting into practice this knowledge acts to enforce it and highlight it in real life, showing first hand the benefits and fun of having two languages. School linking leads to the following:
School
Link Program
I have more French schools wanting to link up. If you are a primary school
with KS2 classes wanting to write to a school in France with pupils of
the same age group then please contact me.
Please note:
- There is a small agent fee to pay (£50) to cover costs
- Support in writing to the children is provided
- Ideas on what to write can be suggested
- Trips can be organised
Once the schools have been put in contact with each other and are 'linked' then the children are encouraged to write to each other - either in their native tongue or their newly acquired skill.
Either way the children can only benefit from writing in another language or trying to understand a letter written in French.
School
Trips
The
second phase of this program has been to get the children to meet up
and spend time visiting places in the UK, playing sports and learning
our respective languages as well as visiting our schools - a great fun
way to encourage their knowledge.
This was implemented last spring (2009) with a trip from our French
Pen Pal friends to two local Kent schools. Please see click on the following
link for pictures and more information:
In the future I hope our English schools will be able to visit their counterparts in France. I have a centre ready to welcome our French children and I hope that the word will get around quickly to start this exciting new project.
I hope that you will promote this idea to your child's 'pen pal' school. Please contact me if you would like to discuss any point of this exciting project with me.
...and recently this June, with a visit of our own to France to meet up with our Penpal friends. Please click on the following to see our brilliant photos of this fantastic trip:
Please see the following Testimonial page to see what our students and parents thought about their Pen Pal Visit experience.
Another phase of this program is to arrange student swaps during term times, where a French and English student swap with each other and spend time in their respective schools.
