Nice-Southend-on-Sea ou l`entente cordiale

Nice-Southend-on-Sea ou l’entente cordiale
Southend High School for Girls
Quatre années de bonheur
Edition spéciale
Special Edition
June 2012
Quatre années d’échanges pédagogiques et de
travail commun, près de trente-cinq
partenariats actifs, de très forts liens d’amitié
et un enthousiasme sans cesse renouvelé: cette
édition spéciale se veut le témoin de ces
échanges uniques à travers les rapports de
visites de collègues anglais et français.
Four years of joint educational work, thirty-five
active partnerships, strong friendships and
neverending enthusiasm: this special edition is
a testimony of our unique relationships as seen
through the eyes of French and English
colleagues.
Anne Villeneuve-Bayart,
Conseillère pédagogique LVE
Nicole Valencia,
Primary MFL Coordinator
Two seaside towns joined by education
Deux villes de bord de mer unies par l’éducation
Ecole Jacques Boissier (Antibes) - Heycroft Primary School (Southend)
Since I returned from my visit to l’Ecole Jacques Boissier in
Nice, I have already shared the resources I collected, given
out letters from the children in our partner school to my year
4 class. The photographs I took allowed our children to
compare the French school environment with their own.
Heycroft children have been exposed to the language by
watching short video clips, recorded on flipcams, of French
children introducing themselves. This has already improved
their oral skills.
I was able to feedback to staff about the link and how it can
help promote a greater cultural awareness within the school
through the use of video conferencing, displays or cultural
boxes. This was particularly useful as we were updating the
school's Spiritual, Moral, Social, Cultural Policy.
Job shadowing Madame Gaillard offered enriching observation, but also time to plan and develop future joint projects,
discuss and compare methodologies and share good practice.
As a native speaker, I was also able to shadow a teacher
delivering an English lesson, assist with correct pronunciation
and dispel any misconceptions pupils had.
Pam Durrant, MFL coordinator at Heycroft
Le lundi 29 mars et le vendredi 30 mars, nous avons eu la
chance d’avoir la visite de Pam, la maîtresse de nos
correspondants anglais de l’école de Heycroft, à Southend
on Sea près de Londres.
Pour commencer, elle nous a présenté ses élèves sur une
vidéo. Ils ont tous le même uniforme : un T- shirt blanc,
un pull violet, une cravate, une casquette et un pantalon
noir, que Charly a essayé.
Ensuite, elle nous a raconté une histoire qui parlait d’un
fermier et d’un navet géant : « The Enormous Turnip ».
Elle nous a rapporté une mascotte. C’est un Beefeater, un
garde de la tour de Londres. Elle a fait une video dans
laquelle nous nous sommes présentés en français, pour
ses élèves. Puis, nous avons joué notre pièce de théâtre.
Pam a beaucoup observé notre travail. Avant de partir,
elle nous a donné des bonbons anglais.
Les élèves de la classe ont aussi des correspondants
italiens, près de Turin.
Peut-être qu’un jour leur maître viendra nous voir !
La classe de CE 2 A de Madame Gaillard
Page 2
Nice-Southend-on-Sea ou l’entente cordiale
Darlinghurst Primary School—Ecole Daudet II
I am lucky to be starting a second partnership
- my first is in Cannes and I cope well with the
hardship of walking around ‘La Croisette’,
past the yachts, beaches and the palm-tree
lined streets on the way to school! My new
school, Alphonse Daudet II is in Cagnes-surMer, a ten minute train ride from Nice. It was
a very interesting experience to compare the
two schools.
Daudet II is so named because there is a
school named Daudet I, in fact, the two
schools are part of the same building – you
can walk along the corridor and halfway along
you can stand with one foot in each school!
The schools share a playground – as the
children don’t wear uniform and are playing
happily together, it is not clear which children
belong to which school – when break time
ends, they return to their appropriate sides to
enter their classrooms.
My new partner is Natalie Wenzinger, the
head teacher of Daudet II. She could not
have been more welcoming and generous
with her time. .
Daudet II had a familiar feel about it, although
I had never visited before. This was partly
because the buildings, layout of the
classrooms and style of furniture were very
similar to Ecole La Croisette, as was the style
of teaching, using workbooks, although in
Natalie’s classroom there is an Interactive
White Board! The children reminded me of the
Darlinghurst children – friendly and lovely to
talk to; they came from a wide range of backgrounds, some with a range of problems that
impacted on their learning which the school
were working hard to overcome.
Our two schools share much more: classroom
rules; similar topics e.g. the planets, maths
(the Year 5 class was covering the same
areas as I am with my class) and interactive
language lessons – we watched a class of
Year 3 children very eager to show off their
English skills. The children liked the idea that
we would be sharing what we saw with our
own school and were also eager to learn
3° Livres communs.
1° Jeu des portraits.
juste.
Visiting another country to observe practice
and develop educational relationships is always a privilege. This was certainly the case
when I participated in the recent visit to the
lovely city of Nice at the end of the Spring
Term. Nice is a beautiful city, full of charm
and situated in an envious position. However,
it also has some of the busiest roads you will
ever see, prices in shops that make one’s
eyes water and levels of deprivation that are
a match for any that we may see in Southend.
The educational landscape in Nice is very
different to that seen in Southend in many
ways. However there are also a number of
similarities which make the link an endlessly
fascinating one. French Headteachers are
very rarely full time – in fact in some cases
they receive no time at all to carry out their
role as the leader of the school. Their responsibilities are not as complex as those in our
schools but they are demanding and require
both time and effort to complete. During the
visit I spent a day at Daudet II, a medium
sized primary school equivalent with
I have now taken part in several visits to Nice;
there is no doubt that these visits really enhance
and give purpose to the language and cultural
learning of children in both participating schools.
There is nothing that can match the excitement
of exchanging materials and ideas with real
children who are sharing their first-hand experiences. As a teacher, it makes such a difference
being able to meet my partner face-to-face and
plan projects together, not just by emails. Being
able to share photos of the children and school
brings it all to life and hopefully, before too long,
we will be able to include pupils in visits as well.
Angela Johnston, MFL Coordinator
Darlinghurst Primary School
Nos projets communs
Chaque élève est pris en photo numérique par
ses pairs. On voit des détails caractéristiques :
vêtements, cheveux, objet tenu. Chaque élève
fait une lettre dans sa langue maternelle, en se
décrivant. Il explique ce qu’il aime, sa famille.
Les classes envoient les photos découpées,
avec le nom de l’élève au dos, et les lettres.
Le jeu : comprendre les lettres écrites dans la
langue étrangère, parfois avec l’aide d’un
dictionnaire, puis trouver la photo correspondante. En tournant la photo, on peut voir si c’est
about Darlinghurst. I took part in several question and answer sessions with different classes –
all in French! When I presented Natalie’s class
with gifts from England, one of the boys asked
what they could give in return – the answer was:
a song. I had an Easi Speak recording device
with me, so I recorded the class singing ‘Une
Souris Verte’ – a lovely memory of the visit and
valuable authentic resource for school.
2° La mascotte.
Nous dessinons, ou fabriquons un livre en français, très
connu. Il est préférable qu’il soit répétitif dans sa lecture.
Nous l’envoyons aux anglais, ils le traduisent et renvoient les
phrases. Chacun peut apprendre des phrases types et du
vocabulaire sur un même thème.
La mascotte de la classe est prise en photo
dans toutes les activités souhaitées, scolaires
ou extrascolaires. On joint à la photo un petit
texte dans sa langue. On peut y joindre aussi
toutes sortes de documents : dépliants, tickets,
matériels…
4° ABCdaire
On peut poser des questions sur les photos
reçues des partenaires, par mail ou par lettre.
Exemples : fêtes nationales, culturelles, activités de classe, reportages dans la ville, …
Nathalie Wenzinger, directrice de Daudet II
Nous photographions les élèves effectuant des actions, et
mettons dessous le verbe en français, les correspondants
font de même en anglais. Idem avec le vocabulaire que l’on
souhaite apprendre. Cela fait un jeu de cartes à regarder, à
lire, à former des « phrases »…
school and the community it serves.
A headteacher’s perspective
10 classes. Madame Wenzinger, the
Directrice , has two days to carry out her duties
as a school leader with the rest of her time
taken up teaching a class of 30 children.
Interestingly, in the school next door – which
shares a building, play space, lunch facilities
and a car park – the Director only has one day
out of the classroom: he has only 9 classes.
It is clear that Madame Wenzinger faces many
challenges that compare with those faced in
Southend: disenfranchised families, a turbulent
population, underachievement, challenging
parents and limited budgets among others. Her
equipment is provided by the local mayor and
she is very much corralled by the highly prescriptive French curriculum. Despite this she is
very positive and I was struck by her enthusiasm, determination and commitment to her
As well as visiting Daudet 2, I was fortunate enough
to join with an Inspecteur, JeanJacques Mandirac,
on an inspection visit to an Ecole Maternelle to assess a teacher prior to her completing her qualification period. I also spent ime discussing education
with Jean Jacques and his team. It was clear that
they want to provide every child with the best education that they can provide and are keen to share
their practice and learn from ours. Like educators all
over the world for them “every child matters” is not a
government policy statement but a simple truth that
they are striving to achieve.
The visit to Nice was a very worthwhile, thought
provoking few days. I asked many questions and
received many answers. We have many differences
– but we also share many things too. The future
learning and sharing will be really beneficial for all
concerned. As they say in France – Vive le Partenariat !
Bob Knight
Headteacher at Darlinghurst Primary
Page 3
Edition spéciale
Ecole Bocca-Mûriers, Cannes—Barons Court Primary, Southend
Les collègues anglaises à Cannes
La visite d’Ava et de Sarah m’a permis de sortir
du quotidien et de prendre un peu de recul par
rapport à nos enseignements et à notre manière
d’enseigner. J’ai eu un regard plus critique sur
moi-même et sur l’école. Ayant décidé de ne pas
suivre entièrement les enseignements prévus ces
deux jours, j’ai voulu profiter au maximum de
leur présence pour que les élèves sollicitent leurs
connaissances en anglais et échangent le plus possible avec nos partenaires.
Des histoires ont été racontées, les élèves ont
chanté en anglais, ils ont appris une danse ont
également appris une danse et une chanson à nos
partenaires. Ils ont montré beaucoup de curiosité,
ont posé de nombreuses questions et ont été
respectueux.
Ava et Sarah n’ont pas hésité à bousculer notre
façon de faire en repoussant les bureaux et en
mettant les enfant en ronde dans la classe pour
leur apprendre une danse et une chanson. Elles les
ont également regroupés pour les séances de
lecture.
Habitués à cadrer beaucoup plus nos élèves, cela
nous montre qu’il est possible de faire autrement
et se remettre en question est toujours bénéfique.
L’atmosphère de l’école a changé. Les élèves
étaient plus joyeux, plus attentifs et plus ouverts.
Comme Ava et Sarah ont tourné dans les classes,
les échanges entre professeurs ont été plus
fréquents. J'ai échangé avec mes collègues sur les
projets avec l'Angleterre et certaines sembleraient
assez tentées d'y participer. Elles ont été très
contentes également que le travail fait en classe
soit repris de vive voix et avec le bon accent par
Ava et Sarah!
Anne-Eva Gueguen, enseignante
‘se remettre en question est
toujours bénéfique’
Une collègue française à Barons Court
As a French teacher teaching at Cannes-la-bocca on the French Riviera, I had the luck to meet our partners Ava Northwood and
Sarah Richardson during three days at Barons Court ! The welcome was really warm and the school is amazing : teachers and pupils are very nice and the means in terms of material, teaching and support people are huge ! I brought with me photos, postcards,
music, stories and carambars…so I could explain to the pupils where we are in France, how it looks like, show photos of my pupils, teach a little song, read a French book on the Barbapapa family and try to cook crêpes with the children of Barons Court!
I spent fabulous and rich moments! Thank you for everything !
Anne-Eva Gueguen, enseignante
Hosting our French partner
The children at Barons Court Primary School were excited to meet Anne-Eva in April. The children
throughout the school had sent letters, photographs and work to Anne-Eva's class at Ecole Muriers.
They had recieved letters and photographs and information about the French school so when Aneva
arrived the children were eager to greet her, ask questions about her pupils and hear about her French
life. The children were amazed to hear Aneva speaking French and for some children this was the first
time they had heard another language other than English being spoken fluently.
Anne-Eva spent 3 days at Barons Court. Key Stage 2 made and tasted crepes with french fillings and
listened to stories read in French, Key Stage 1 were able to join in the story ‘Barbapapa et Les Nombres' as Anne-Eva helped them learn animal names and numbers in French and the Foundation Stage
loved listening to song and rhymes in French.
Aneva was impressed as we performed a song in French 'Meunier tu dors' and she was able to add to
our repertoire.
We are now excited to be able to listen to the recording of Anne-Eva reading our favourite French
stories.
Barons Court children were lucky to meet Anne-Eva and begin to develop an understanding of the
diverse cultures and languages in the world. They will certainly remember her visit!
Ava Northwood, Teacher and link coordinator
Page 4
Nice-Southend-on-Sea ou l’entente cordiale
Earls Hall Junior School - Ecole élém. de Tourrettes-sur-Loup
Developing Intercultural Understanding
The two days of job shadowing in my French partner school were preceded by a training course organised jointly by colleagues in
Southend and Nice. First we were shown how to develop intercultural understanding through the use of a culture box. We were
advised to choose interesting, child-centred items and given ideas for related activities to develop skills, such as observing,
identifying, comparing and interpreting. Recommended activities included town trails, comparing
photographs and identifying a mystery artefact. In the afternoon we enjoyed a guided tour of the castle to
learn more about local history and we had the opportunity to collect items for Nice culture boxes.
In the afternoon of my second day in Tourrettes, I accompanied my partner Stephanie and her class to
the village and took photos of significant features. Our English cuddly toy ambassador was featured in all
of them, which I hope will increase the children's motivation to learn about other cultures. My French
partner is planning to send us a similar toy. Each child will have an opportunity to take the toy home and
write about daily experiences, taking a photo or drawing a picture, if they wish. We hope to set up cloud
storage where we can store photos to be accessed by both schools. I have collected numerous items for a
culture box and plan to carry out related activities such as 'The missing person'. I will put various items
from the culture box in a bag and the children will use inference and deduction to make judgements
about who the bag might belong to.
Another activity to promote intercultural understanding is for each of us to write a simple book about
our town.
We discussed ways that the partnership could enrich other subjects. One of the activities suggested by Stephanie was for each
school to email the temperature daily to the other, so that the children can record on comparative line graphs. Both schools will
be discussing a healthy diet in the summer term, so we decided that the children can email each other to ask about local and
traditional food. We will also exchange school menus. The French school plans to study climates, so we aim to share some
photos of art work related to the rainforest which we will be doing in the summer term.
Rita Robinson, MFL Coordinator at Earls Hall Junior School
Ecole Von Derwies, Nice - West Leigh Junior School, Leigh-on-Sea
J’ai eu l’opportunité de partir à Southend- on- Sea grâce à une
bourse Comenius. Cette expérience a été très enrichissante
tant au niveau linguistique, pédagogique que culturelle. West
Leigh Junior School est l’école partenaire qui m’a reçue. Dans
cette école, les élèves volontaires bénéficient d’une demi-heure
de cours de langue par semaine grâce à un professeur de
français. Ma visite dans la classe de Julie Ann Moffat a permis
aux élèves de pratiquer le français en dehors de leur cours
habituel, de découvrir leurs correspondants avec leur ville et
leur école et de motiver les élèves n’ayant pas choisi cette
langue. Ils ont pu observer les différences entre les pratiques
de l’école anglaise et celles de l’école française. De plus,
l’enseignante titulaire de la classe et le professeur de français
ont décidé d’organiser une journée sur le thème de la France.
J’ai été enthousiasmée par l’enseignement prodiguée dans
cette école et je souhaite travailler à mon retour davantage par
thème et augmenter les activités de production d’écrits dans
ma classe. Je regrette que les écoles françaises ne soient pas
dotées comme en Angleterre de tableau numérique car cet
outil permet de travailler sur des documents riches et variés
motivants pour les apprenants. Un important travail en équipe
facilité par la libération d’une demi-journée par semaine est pour moi
une grande qualité de l’enseignement anglais.
En plus de la visite d’un autre mode d’enseignement, la formation que
j’ai reçue de la part de Nicole Valencia m’a permis d’apprendre des
nouvelles activités comme le « story-making » et le « loop game » que
je compte expliquer en réunion à mes collègues enseignant l’anglais.
J’ai pris de l’assurance quant à la pratique de l’anglais, me suis
imprégnée de la culture anglaise et ai collecté divers documents pour
mon partenariat entre ma classe et celle de Southend-on- Sea.
Eva Hubacher, enseignante
Page 5
Edition spéciale
Ecole élé. Les Serraires, Colomars—The Westborough Primary School
Two days in the life of a village school
29th March: At 8.30am that morning I took a pleasant
walk up through the village to the school (the highest
point in Colomars); my first impression was that Les
Serraires was a very happy and laid back place – no
“security” – no badge, no signing in – “just follow the
children, they’ll show you the way”. Which they did.
Cecile Maurin introduced me to her colleagues in the
playground and all made me feel very welcome. “Did I
want coffee? No? Tea?” A child was dispatched to the
staff room and returned with a mug of tea, carrying it
across the playground. (H & S! we are not even allowed
to carry a hot beverage outside the staff room).
Leaving her class to play, Cecile gave me a quick tour of
the school before we went up to her classroom. If the
school is on the highest point in the village, Cecile’s
classroom is the highest point in the school, from which
seven windows give an almost panoramic view of the
surrounding mountains and valleys (and Alps and Med)
and if the curtains are often closed its not to stop the class
(or visiting Anglais) from staring outside all day, but to try
to prevent the provencale sunshine from rendering the
Smartboard ™ all but invisible.
The start of the class day was, again, laid back. All the
children sat down and prepared their equipment for the
day, then listened to one of their peers as he led them
through the first “lesson” of the day. Hippolyte read out
a new word and the class had to give it’s meaning. There
was no shouting or silliness. Hippolyte was in charge and
everyone took the exercise SERIOUSLY. This was
something that struck me throughout my time in Cecile’s
classroom – how well behaved, how sensible, thoughtful
the group were.
I spent the rest of the morning sitting in the only available
seat, at the back of the class, next to the only child in the
class with “learning problems” . The Conjugation of
Verbs and Geometry was the session’s focus.
Playtime. More staring at the views in the sunshine.
Before and after lunchtime Cecile’s class responded to
“Fetes de Paques” cards from my pupils.
More playtime. Still those views. It’s a very long day.
8.30am to 4.30pm. Eight hours!
30th March: Now it was my turn to stand at the front of the
class. I used games taught during our language preparation
sessions in England, and some of my own. Later I used
Westborough’s website, our architect’s site, Google Earth to
talk about my school. Cecile’s class were very interested in the
“sustainable”/”green” approaches that we are putting into
place. The Olympics was of great interest. V.T.T. IN ESSEX!
- there are NO MOUNTAINS!”
Cecile and I talked about ways in which our schools can work
together. Cecile asked that my pupils tell hers about the
Olympics (we are lucky to have an event on our doorstep after
all and my pupils visit Hadleigh Country Park weekly). I had
brought Easter cards out with me. Cecile’s class had prepared a
game with a class photograph and simple clues to the identity of
each child .
In the afternoon I walked with the class through the village
along the main road (no “Hi Vis” jackets. But all traffic
stopped to let the children walk where there were no pavements
and cross the road – without any impatient tooting of horns, let
alone abusive language) to the village community centre
(adjacent to du Redier) for a rehearsal of their part in a school
production. The rehearsal was led by a Drama professional
who had come up from Nice and she expected that the class
took the process very seriously; mucking about, talking
“backstage”, fussing over costumes and props etc was completely out of the question. I went outside with a boy banished
for talking. We both looked at the view.
As for our joint projects, we decided to share a “Boîte
Culturelle” this term, following the initial training day. Since my
return I have been busy collecting things for it.
Next term (September 2012) in the expectation that we both
have Year 5 classes, we plan to work with Roald Dahl’s “Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory”, from the point of view of
language, Art, modelling, photography and cookery.
Simon Hollands, MFL Coordinator
The Westborough Primary School
Page 6
Nice-Southend-on-Sea ou l’entente cordiale
Ecole Mont Saint Jean, Antibes - Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School
In preparation for my second visit to our partner school in Antibes I made a list of suggested project ideas, many of them inspired by the French Network meetings, run by Nicole. I worked with
my colleagues to collect a wide range of children's work to share with the French children. This
ranged from joke books and photos with children’s comments to information about our school and
pop up cards introducing ourselves.
I collected items that represent our school (eg prospectus / photos / info etc) and purchased
stickers, English Easter sweets and English/French dictionary for the French class. I also
purchased a wide variety of banners, napkins, flags and posters on the theme of the Queen's
Jubilee to share with the children at the partner school.
Our first day at Ecole Mont St Jean was kick started with a French style breakfast, shared with
teachers and parents. The whole school was decorated with posters welcoming Allison and me to
the school. Fuelled with coffee and croissants I started my day with Madame Daumas’ reception/
Year 1 class. My contact time across the next two days provided a wealth of experiences and
wonderful resources for our school in England.
The power of photographing a real French school, capturing the language that our pupils have
been learning in a real context and making videos of the French children introducing
themselves cannot be underestimated.
Showing these to the children at home and showing them that French is very much alive
outside our classroom really gives meaning to their learning. It teaches them so much about
the cultural differences and similarities too, moving beyond just the language.
Through observing the lessons in Antibes I got lots of ideas for lessons in my own class.
Teaching the French children was a wonderful experience. One little girl had bought in an
English book 'The Thing'. There was a French copy of the same book in class, so I read each
page in English and the French teacher read it straight after in French. The children loved it!
We played number games with our fingers, used bright cards for colours and we sang our rainbow song again. I taught the children a rap (in French) and got them all up doing the actions.
Towards the end of the day, I was presented with lots of French story books and sweets to
share with my class back in England. The teacher brought out the Beefeater bear that I had
bought 4 years ago and explained how they were going to take him home for the weekend and
take photos / write a simple sentence for a book that they would send to us. She also used
the Tetley Tea monkey toy that I had brought with me for this trip. The children were so
excited by the idea and those that were chosen to start it off looked so proud!
Our next step is to work on a simple story book together. We will be using a book called "
Dans la forêt profonde" by Anthony Browne, using some of the ideas from our MFL storytelling training session.
There is lots of work to be done to keep everyone in school involved in the project, to share
knowledge and resources with pupils and staff and to keep everyone excited about MFL but
this visit has really motivated me and given impetus to my co-ordination role. It was lovely to
see that our French colleagues and children enjoyed it just as much as we did:
Carla Dodsworth, KS2 MFL co-ordinator at Our Lady of Lourdes School
Jeudi 29 et vendredi 30 mars nous avons reçu Carla, la maîtresse de nos correspondants de Leigh on Sea. Cela fait quatre
ans que la maîtresse correspond avec Carla afin de mettre en place un échange avec nos amis anglais. Carla est donc venue
passer deux jours en classe, deux jours pendant lesquels nous n’avons entendu que de l’anglais ! Nous avons beaucoup
appris avec elle : à compter jusqu’à 10, les couleurs, le vocabulaire relatif à Pâques….et encore beaucoup de choses que les
maîtresses vont reprendre et approfondir avec nous. Carla nous a apporté beaucoup de goodies et de chocolats.
It was GREAT !!!!!!
Madame Daumas , directrice, Ecole Mont Saint-Jean
Page 7
Edition spéciale
Bournes Green Junior School, Southend - Ecole Paule d’Essling, Nice
Our first day in Nice was dedicated to language and culture related
workshops. This was held at a school in Nice and organised jointly by the
French and English language advisers. This focused on MFL methodology
through story telling and learning about the French Education System in
order to make comparisons with our own system. We also talked about
'Culture Boxes' and how building one could develop Intercultural
Understanding among our pupils. This activity enabled me to bring back
real life objects to use in my school which will develop the children's
awareness of life in France.
Two days were spent in l’Ecole Paule d’Essling where I shadowed the Directrice, Nicole Ugo. This involved observing
lessons, working with individuals and groups of children and taking part in a staff meeting. I also had the opportunity to
teach an English lesson, using materials I had prepared at my own school with my class. This gave me the opportunity to
put into practice the skills I learnt during my intensive language preparation course, as I had to address the children in
French.
I am now much more confident when speaking and writing in French and I have learnt more about the Citizenship,
Customs and Culture of France which will help with my teaching of Intercultural Understanding. Thanks to this visit the
two schools have re-established a positive link for the future.
Ellie Day , Teacher at Bournes Green Junior School
Ecole Rosalinde Rancher 2, Nice - Friars Primary, Shoeburyness
Wow! What a fantastic visit to Nice it was second time around. I felt so
much more confident with both being in the class and around other
teachers, speaking the language myself and being amongst the children.
This time I had the fantastic opportunity to teach the children the time in
English. We re-capped the numbers and explained the clock face. We
counted in fives, tens and they showed me on their own clocks. They
picked it up very quickly!
A favourite part of the project for me (as P.E. co-ordinator!) was
watching the children play basketball. Watching their maturity, discipline
and listening skills was amazing. They were a credit and I would have
loved my class to have seen for themselves.
I also had the opportunity to complete some traditional English cooking with the children. We made shortbread in groups
of five or six children. I had vocabulary cards for the key verbs, we read the recipe in English and wrote the recipe in
English.
We plan to continue work alongside this theme, focusing on traditional English and French recipes, with the children
writing their own recipes and making the food from another country. We aim to create our own cookbooks which is very
exciting.
This project has made me grow in confidence and given me new inspiration in my teaching. I was so excited to come back
to my class and share what I had learnt and reflect on the differences between the schools. It has again made me feel
refreshed and I am extremely grateful for the wonderful opportuinities I have had so far to expand the children’s work
and mind. I can’t wait for more Comenius projects in the future.
Carly Smith, teacher and French link coordinator
Page 8
Nice-Southend-on-Sea ou l’entente cordiale
Secondary schools have joined the adventure!
Futures Community College - Collège Les Vallergues, Cannes
For the past two years, Futures Community College has worked in partnership
with the Collège Les Vallergues in Cannes. Some students from the French
department have been corresponding with French students via the electronic
platform eTwinning and have also exchanged emails and Christmas cards in
each other’s language. After several successful reciprocal teacher visits, it was
finally time for 29 French stuidents to come to Southend in April 2012 with 3
teachers including the Vice Principal. The group stayed at the site in Belchamps
where they were treated like kings!
The party spent a day and a half in school where they attended classes, from art
and drama (miming) to bikeability, indoor dodge ball and cookery (making
scones!), a real treat as cooking lessons are not part of the curriculum in France.
They discovered Southend, spent a day in London and the last evening was
shared around a camp fire at Belchamps.
It has been fantastic to see so many colleagues at Futures willing to invest
themselves to make such a project possible. Merci beaucoup!
Je vous remercie de nous avoir aidés à réaliser notre rêve ! Les enfants sont revenus émerveillés
de cette expérience incroyable en Angleterre. Mes collègues sont aux anges d'avoir passé cette
semaine extraordinaire organisée par Valérie et son équipe à Futures.
Tout cela donne du sens à notre travail et je vous suis extrêmement reconnaissante de votre
engagement et de votre soutien.
Aparajita Dey, enseignante au Collège Les Vallergues
Our Comenius project
Since December 2009, Futures Community College has had the opportunity to work in partnership with ‘Le Collège Les
Vallergues’. Wanting to take this partnership to the next level, Mme Dey-Plissonneau (our partner teacher) and I (Mrs Valérie
Nunn) decided to embark on a Multilateral Comenius project. After advertising this on the eTwinning platform, we found a
further 8 countries who wished to join us on this adventure. A few months after our application was submitted, 7/10 countries
(England, France, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain & Poland) were granted funding from their own National Agency;
Futures Community College received 25,000€ from the British Council. Our project is called HEAL and addresses health (H)
and environmental (E) issues incorporating active learning (AL). It will be interspersed with a variety of mini projects and will
offer an international opening to all partner schools with relation to the environment, socio-economic problems and cultural
differences. At Futures Community College, a team of 13 staff meet monthly to plan activities & manage the good progress of
all mini projects; furthermore, many lunch times & after school clubs have been created to involve as many students as
possible. So far this year, we have concentrated on health topics where staff & students from every country completed an
online health questionnaire which was analysed by students; healthy menus were then created by our year 11 students (as
part of their GCSE coursework), one of which has been chosen by our catering manager and will soon be on our menu in the
school’s canteen. Amongst many workshops, a Festival of Sport was organised by our PE Department to encourage students
to keep fit.
To date, three mobilities have taken place:
In November 2011, Mr Carpenter (Principal) and myself visited Cannes to officially open our Comenius project
In March 2012, 2 staff & 4 students went to Lizzano in Southern Italy where students stayed with Italian families
In May 2012, 2 staff & 6 students went to Munich, Germany where we all stayed in a hostel
A great time was had by all during all mobilities and both staff & students have commented on how wonderful an opportunity
this was for them as they could compare their school life with others and have now developed great friendships with all participants (even despite the language barrier) Moreover, they have noted that being involved in such a project has added depth
and purpose to their work & education.
5 further mobilities are to take place during the 2012-2013 academic year:
Sopot, Poland in September 2012, Southend on Sea, England in October 2012
A Coruna, Spain in January 2013, Breukelen, The Netherlands in March 2012
Cannes, France in May 2012
I would personally recommend such a Comenius project to everyone ! We are all becoming an international family !
Valérie Nunn, French teacher and Comenius project coordinator
Page 9
Edition spéciale
Lancaster School, Southend - Les Instituts Médico Educatifs de Nice
Ashleigh Vine and I visited Nice to investigate the French special school education system.
Ashleigh’s focus was the curriculum and links, mine was how they work with health and
prepare students for life after school.
We visited three schools: IME Rossetti for children and young people with a wide variety of
physical and cognitive difficulties, IME Matisse for young people with cognitive and
behavioural difficulties and IME Clement Ader for young people who have visual and auditory
difficulties.
All children in France who have special needs begin their education in their local school. It was
reported there is little support for the child and family and although it is law that the school
meet their needs many are quietly excluded from school and stay at home.
It is the responsibility of parents to collate information and apply to a panel, the MDPH, for
appropriate provision. Some children are given places at special schools whilst others are
granted support in the form of personal assistants to stay in mainstream school. Once a place
in special schools has been granted in Nice there can be up to a 3 year wait before a place
becomes available.
The French curriculum is tightly controlled by central government; special schools provide a
modified curriculum. It has been agreed to share the ethos and aspects of our curriculum,
accredited courses and assessment procedures with IME Henri Matisse
Special schools are funded by health with a large input from health professionals. The
government employs the teachers and just pays their salaries.
IME Rossetti is a new purpose built provision with a variety of specialist teaching areas and
health rooms, it has approximately 77 students and employs teachers, physiotherapists,
occupational therapists, speech therapists, psychologists, neuro psychologist, psychomotor
therapist, paediatrician, physician and psychiatrist, nurses and educators.Every child has an
individual timetable with health and physical well being input being as important as their
education.
IME Matisse is for students aged 12 – 20, some spend much of their day in mainstream
provision.
23 students remain in the provision all day; there are teachers, educators and technical
educators for catering and gardening and a variety of other health workers including a
psychologist (counsellor) for students, staff and parents.
IME Clement Ader is for students aged 12 – 20 who are deaf or blind, teachers are employed,
as well as educators and a variety of other health specialists. They also promote practical skills.
All the schools find it as difficult as we do to find work experience placements and students
employment post school.
The French government has established protected employment for disabled people and many
were seen working in Nice helping to manage the gardens, parks and roadsides. It is
compulsory for companies of more than 20 employees to ensure 10% of their work force have
disabilities or pay a tax.
The holistic approach to children and young people with special educational needs in France is
particularly interesting and beneficial and many practices could and should be incorporated
into the British system. Many therapeutic interventions are not highly regarded in this country
and so are not available, they would be a tremendous help in breaking down barriers to
learning for some children.
Our visit to Nice was enormously beneficial and we are both very keen to keep our links.
Rachel Dennis, deputy headteacher at Lancaster School
Page 10
Newsletter Title
Ecole Von Derwies, Nice - St Helen’s RC Primary School
Le but de mon voyage à Southend-on-Sea était d’observer la classe d’Aleisha Lewis avec laquelle mes élèves et moi-même
correspondons depuis presque 2 ans et d’améliorer mes techniques d’enseignement en France.
Les premiers jours de la formation ont été consacrés à l'observation de classes dans l’école partenaire, St Helen primary
school. J’ai beaucoup appris en observant les manières de travailler dans cette école.
J'ai montré la présentation Powerpoint de notre école (faite par mes élèves en français), puis nous avons essayé de traduire
ensemble les textes à l'oral grâce au mots transparents et au vocabulaire simple connu. Chaque enfant a aussi pu voir la
petite vidéo de présentation de son correspondant en français et la traduire au reste de la classe en anglais. Avec Aleisha,
nous avons présenté le projet que nous avons mis au point : “French-english fusion cooking”. Les élèves britanniques ont pu
goûter à l'aveugle différents aliments typiques que je leur avais apportés. Ensuite, ils ont réfléchi à des plats qu'ils pourraient
faire avec et donné quelques exemples de recettes.
Aleisha, m’a remis un cahier regroupant des photos de l'école et de sa classe, pour les montrer aux élèves des classes de
mon école en France. Nous avons aussi enregistré les enfants anglais en train de se présenter. Cette vidéo sera utilisée lors
de l'enseignement de l'anglais. Ce document authentique servira pour l'étude de la culture anglaise (uniforme, la compréhension de l'oral, spécificités culturelles...) dans mon école.
Le vendredi soir, avec les autres enseignants français, nous avons assisté
à une représentation de la comédie musicale "Blood Brothers" au Phoenix
Theatre. Nous avons vraiment beaucoup apprécié cette soirée. Nous avons
aussi visité la Tate Modern Gallery, la Tour de Londres, Tower Bridge,
Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Covent Garden. Le dimanche Aleisha et sa
famille m’ont fait découvrir le centre historique de Souhend-on-Sea ainsi, le
village de pêcheur traditionnel de "Old Leigh" et le chateau de Hadleigh,
site olympique du VTT! J'ai pu ainsi découvrir le patrimoine culturel de la
région et prendre de nombreuses photos, des plans, des prospectus, des
livres que je pourrai présenter au classes de mon école.
En dehors des journées d'observation dans la classe, une formation de 2 jours en anglais nous a également été proposée par
Mme Nicole Valencia. Durant la première journée, nous avons
pu voir différentes façons d'utiliser les flashcards dans nos classes et la méthode du "story making", avec entre autres The
Enormous Turnip. Durant la seconde journée, nous avons vu
différentes façons d'enseigner l'anglais aux travers des jeux
olympiques de Londres 2012, quelques jeux en anglais et
chants. Nous avons assisté à un Primary Network Meeting
(réunion trimestrielle autour des langues au primaire). Nous
avons testé plusieurs sites internet spécialisés dans l'enseignement de l'anglais langue seconde.
A mon retour, les enfants de ma classe ont gouté à l'aveugle les produits proposés par les correspondants. Ils ont donné leurs
impressions et essayé de trouver une recette possible. Ils sont très enthousiastes à l'idée de partager ces créations avec leurs
correspondants. Des recettes très originales ont été proposées, parmi lesquelles : la crêpe aux pommes et au golden syrup, le
gateau au chocolat avec un coeur de fudge, le taboulé à la mint sauce, le pot-au-feu Marmite, le pain d’épice maison à la marmelade d’orange... Du côté anglais, nous avons également des plats très alléchants tels que soupe de poisson curry, crème de
marron scones, madeleine triffle… Nous avons tous hâte d’admirer (et déguster) le résulat final!!! Si tout va bien ces recettes
seront regroupé dans un livre qui devrait être imprimé fin juin!
Le fait de rencontrer ma partenaire britannique et ses élèves m’a permis de donner un véritable coup de pouce à notre projet
d'écriture et de correspondance. Nous avons pû réfléchir à de nouveaux thèmes possibles pour nos échanges dans le futur
(créer des décorations en fonction des fêtes traditionnelles, inventer des activités rythmiques et corporelles à partir de chants
traditionnels,...) La motivation a été relancée. La découverte de produits authentiques de nos pays respectifs a beaucoup apporté aux élèves.
Anne-Gaelle Simon, Ecole Von Derwies, Nice
Page 11
Newsletter Title
Ecole Von Derwies, Nice - St Helen’s RC Primary School
The aim of my trip to Southend was to shadow Aleisha Lewis in her class at St Helen’s Primary School. Our classes have
been corresponding for the past two years. It was also a chance for me to improve my teaching skills back in France.
The first few days of our stay focused on job shadowing in the partner school and I learnt a lot by observing teaching
methods in the school.
I showed the Powerpoint presentation of our school (prepared in French by my own pupils) then we tried together to
translate orally the texts using cognates and simple known vocabulary. Each child saw the short video of their French
penfriends introducing themselves before sharing it in English with the whole class. Aleishia and I introduced the project
which we have put together: “Anglo-French fusion cuisine”. The British pupils blind tested a few typical French ingredients
which I had brought with me and thought about dishes they could incorporate those in.
Aleishia gave me a book of photos of the school and her class for pupils in France. We also made a video of her pupils
introducing themselves in English: this will be an ideal authentic resource in France for oral comprehension and developing
Intercultural Understanding (i.e. the uniform).
On the Friday night, all French teachers went to London to watch the musical
Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre, another slice of English culture. We
all loved it! On the Saturday, London welcomed us: Tate Modern, Tower of
London, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Covent Garden. On the
Sunday Aleishia and her family took me round the historical centre of
Southend , round the traditional fishing village of Leigh and to Hadleigh
Castle, soon to be an Olympic venue! A great opportunity to discover the
local cultural heritage, to take photos, guides and books which I will share
with my school.
Apart from the job shadowing, we attended two days of pedagogical
training in English delivered by Nicole Valencia. The first day was
dedicated to the use of flashcards and various games and activities
to motivate learners in repeating and learning the language. We especially enjoyed the technique of story-making, with among others
The Enormous Turnip. The second day delved into cross curricular
approaches to teaching English through the London Olympic Games
and Art. We also attended one afternoon a Primary Network Meeting, a termly meeting around Primary languages attended by local
schools. We investigated and tried out several websites focused on
teaching English as a second language.
Take your mini whiteboard!
a circle
a rectangle/a stripe
a star
three vertical stripes
two horizontal stripes
at the top
on the left
a cross
in the centre
In the middle of
on the right
at the bottom
Describing flags in English
When I returned to my classroom in France, the children blind tested the English ingredients suggested by our partner
school. They commented on them and thought of possible recipes. They are extremely enthused at the idea of sharing
their creations with the English children. They suggested very original recipes, such as: pancake with apples and Golden
Syrup, chocolate cake with a fudge centre, taboulé with mint sauce, Marmite beef stew, home made ‘pain d’épice’ - a soft
gingerbread—with orange marmalade. The English pupils have also come up with delectable dishes such as fish soup
with curry, scones with chestnut puree, trifle with madeleines… we are all looking forward to admiring and tasting the
finished products! If all goes according to plan, all recipes will be collected in a book which will go into print at the end of
June.
Meeting my English partner and her class has really revived our link and given new impetus to our projects and
exchanges. We thought of new themes for our future exchanges, such as creating decorations for each traditional
festival, inventing movement and rhythm to fit traditional songs, Motivation is there! Our pupils loved discovering
authentic products from our respective countries.
Anne-Gaelle Simon, Ecole Von Derwies, Nice
Nice-Southend-on-Sea ou l’entente cordiale
‘comparer nos deux systèmes éducatifs nous permet de relativiser
beaucoup de choses, d'ouvrir notre pratique pédagogique, de
rechercher les meilleurs effets de chacun des systèmes, de remettre en
question nos démarches en recherchant celle qui sera la plus efficace.’
Anne-Eva Gueguen, enseignante
This visit has not only revived my love of the French language and my enthusiasm for teaching it
to others, but it has also shown just how important it is for us to teach about other cultures as
well as the actual language itself. I have begun sharing lots of photos and videos that I made at
our French school with the children and they are very excited to see and hear real French children!
Personally, I found it rewarding to learn about another curriculum and the structure of the
school day in France. It was valuable to see different teaching methods and how rewards and
punishments were administered. Being able to bring back new, authentic materials has really
helped to motivate both myself and our pupils.
Allison Driscoll, teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes
Le regard positif sur les élèves des enseignants n'est pas simplement une aptitude
personnelle des enseignantes que j'ai rencontrées, c'est une habitude professionnelle que le
système diffuse.
L'équipement des classes en technologie est exemplaire : TBI dans toutes les classes,
portables , Ipad, visualiseur, microscope électronique, caméras flip.... et j'en passe.
J'imagine l'envie des collègues lorsqu'ils verront le petit reportage vidéo que j'ai réalisé
Régis Durif, MAI Nice 5
Si ce programme vous intéresse, veuillez contacter:
Anne Villeneuve-Bayart
Conseillère pédagogique LVE (Primaire)
Tel: 04 93 72 64 34
Email: [email protected]
Secrétariat DAREIC (Secondaire)
Tel: 04 93 53 70 48
Email: [email protected]
For more information, please contact
Nicole Valencia
Southend/Nice area link project coordinator
Primary MFL Coordinator
Tel: 01702 588852
Email: [email protected]