J6 French Residential

Last week an excited bunch of J6 children headed off on their residential visit to the Opal Coast in Northern France. During this visit the children were immersed in enriching French cultural adventures where they are able to practice their spoken French in an authentic environment.

Despite the early start the drive over to Calais saw our students visibly started to engage, the mounting excitement creating a real bond within the group. After a steady ferry journey on a reasonably calm sea, we stopped at Boulogne-sur-Mer for a city walk, spotting different types of shops and exploring the Basilique Notre-Dame. It was then time to head to our hotel, the Stella Maris, for some chillout time before dinner.

The second day was a very busy one. It began with a trip to the market at Le Touquet, where the children were tasked with finding different items including fruits, legumes and fromages from the stalls. Many of J6 took this opportunity for shopping, testing out their French when making purchases. We then headed off to the Chocolaterie Beussent Lachelle to see the production of a number of items, including a chocolate panda whose head was chopped off so that we could have a taste! Delicious!

We then made a stop at the Boulangerie D’Escoeuilles where the group learnt how to make artisan bread and enjoyed pain au chocolat. The illustrious Bruno ‘le boulanger’ will leave an indelible mark on many of us. With no rain, a stop at ‘la plage’ was essential. Everyone enjoyed an impromptu sandcastle building competition.

The final day took in a trip to the mind-blowing Nausicaa, the largest sea-life centre in Europe. We saw fascinating sea creatures and also some entertaining penguins! It proved to be very popular with the children spotting sharks, rays and jellyfish, not to mention some last minute spending of Euros in the gift-shop.

J6 really impressed throughout this visit; their great manners, attitude, curiosity and thirst for adventure was excellent. They all displayed a lot of ‘savoir vivre’ and certainly acquired ‘savoir faire’.

Written by Mrs Heard, Head of Juniors