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Year 6 Lille Visit – Day 4

Thu 13 Jun 2019 Harry

After a lie in until 8 o’clock we were ready and raring to meet the French children at Brunschvig Rousseau, our partner school in Lille. We headed over to the school and were met with a rousing round of applause and screams of ‘hello’ and ‘bonjour’ from the French pupils.

We arrived at playtime which gave our children a chance to meet lots of Brunschvig pupils and have conversations in French and English. Immediately bonds were made, Angela and Maya were chatting away as well as Hilary who was surrounded by extremely friendly French pupils and had great fun being led around the school!

Next was a tour of the school led by the French children which took in the canteen, playground, nursery and a variety of classrooms. Some pupils enjoyed this tour so much we had to hunt them down as they had paused the tour in a classroom to share stories and even teach each other some wonderful dances! Finally it was time for our rehearsal as we had a big performance to prepare for in the evening to hundreds of French parents.

We spent 2 hours blasting out ‘Park Life’, ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ and Song 2’ as well as performing our dances. Our pupils then taught their moves to the French children and did exceptionally well. All the French children were able to perform our complex choreography within 20 MINUTES! All the teachers were stunned and extremely proud at the way the pupils handled themselves and taught this so quickly.

After a few more run-throughs the pupils joined Brunschvig Rousseau children for lunch in their canteen where they were served a delicious pasta salad and tart for dessert. Play time led to some impressive footballing skills from Antwone and more bonding between the two schools’ cohorts. Next were the final rehearsals and run-through before we headed to Flunch for dinner.

Stuffed full of food and with ice cream in our bellies it was time for the big performance. We boarded the coach and eventually reached the school where the hall was filling with many expectant French parents. Eventually the show began with a perfectly performed ‘Park Life’. Britannia Village pupils stood before the audience and spoke lines clearly in French, Brunschvig pupils reciprocated in English. After another hour of performance a standing ovation greeted the pupils as the whole crowd was amazed, ‘Don’t look back in anger’ had the audience rocking and ‘Song 2’ blew our minds.

After this we had to say our goodbyes and headed back to the hostel for bedtime. It was hard to say our goodbyes as even though the pupils had only known each other for a few hours some great friendships had begun. It is fair to say that we are extremely proud of our pupils, their behaviour for entirety of the week has been incredible but particularly today the maturity, senses of humour and stage presence they exhibited has all of us amazed! They truly are a special bunch!

Next day... We set sail for England after a final walk around Lille

Year 6 Lille Visit – Day 3

Wed 12 Jun 2019 Harry

We had an extremely early start this morning as all children were up at 6.15am for a 6.30am breakfast where they were given their beautiful Britannia Village t-shirts! After a quick change we boarded the bus and headed to Paris. It was a long journey which allowed time for some extra sleep and we arrived around 11.30am to the Pompidou, a world famous modern art gallery by the River Seine in the French capital.

Here we sat in a square and did some sketching before purchasing some souvenirs with our spending money. Lots of shiny French Eiffel Tower key rings were bought (mainly buy Rome who was a man on a mission to buy as many as possible!) as well as some impressive snow globes. After this we visited the art gallery in the Pompidou where a lot of pupils chose to sketch their favourite pieces. Others wandered the halls enjoying works from modern artists such as Picasso, Kandinsky and Rothko and sharing opinions about the work.

We enjoyed views across Paris from the top tier of the Pompidou and caught our first glimpse of the famous Eiffel Tower! We sat in a square near the gallery for lunch but were unfortunately caught in a rainstorm so took shelter before continuing on to the River Seine. We walked its banks and discussed similarities and differences to the Thames, which we have been learning about in school. Eventually we reached the Louvre where we stopped to take pictures and appreciate the beauty of the area.

After this we began our walk down the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, enjoying the amazing view all the way down the famous avenue. We stopped in a park to take in the sights and made another stop for our surprise dinner, at McDonalds! Vanessa impressed the waiter with her ordering skills as she asked for ‘quatre frites’ and thanked them with a very polite ‘merci beaucoup’.

Now well-fed, we had an up close look at the Arc de Triomphe before we boarded the metro to the Eiffel Tower. We rode five stops and exited to be greeted by a spectacular, up close view of the famous attraction. The children had an opportunity to take pictures as we took in the tower, eventually peeling themselves away as we boarded our coach back to Lille where showers and bed time awaited.

Tomorrow we will visit the French school to meet the children we have been posting letters to and perform some of the wonderful songs and dances we’ve been learning in school!

Year 6 Lille Visit - Day 2!

Tue 11 Jun 2019 Harry

After a lovely lie in (till 7.55!) everyone was up and enjoying their first continental breakfast at the hostel. First challenge to tackle this morning was what to eat for lunch so all the children walked down to the local supermarche to buy some food to eat later. This involved a bit of budgeting so everyone in the group had enough food, some great team work and even a little bit more French speaking!

With our newly purchased food in tow we all jumped on the coach for the short drive to Ypres to learn more about the battles that took place around Flanders fields. We had previously learnt about some of these in our ‘Highs and Lows of the 20^th Century’ topic. On arrival we first visited a stunning cathedral and spent some time sketching the beautiful artworks inside. Daniella and Sonia exhibited some amazing focus and artwork as they recreated lots of the features of the church with incredible accuracy.

Later we walked to the Menin Gate, a memorial arch built to commemorate 54,000 men who lost their lives in the fierce battles fought in the area. We spent a little time here and then sat in the square outside the Flanders Fields museum for lunch. The groups created their culinary masterpieces (mainly delicious sandwiches) and tucked into their food.

With fuel in our bellies we headed into the Museum and explored some of the interactive displays. There were loads of facts about battles we had studied in school to deepen our understanding. After a long exploration we went to a Belgian chocolate shop to buy some wonderful treats!

Finally we boarded the coach and went back to the hostel to get changed for our dinner, tonight was our ‘smart’ meal and there were some exceptional outfits on show, namely John’s snappy three-piece suit and Gbotemi’s flowery dress! We all enjoyed some delicious pizza and pasta then headed back to the hostel for showers and bed. We’re all excited for Paris tomorrow although slightly shocked that we have to wake up at 6.15am!

Year 6 Lille Visit - Day 1!

Mon 10 Jun 2019 Harry

Monday

After setting off from Britannia Village we reached Folkestone in time to catch the 10.40am train to the Eurotunnel and arrived in France at around 11.30. Here we began our viewing of Kung Fu Panda on the coach and spirits were extremely high!

After roughly an hours drive we arrived in Vimy Ridge for our tour of the WW1 battlefields and some lunch. The children were fascinated by the Canadian and German trenches and got to walk around inside, we were all shocked by how close together they were! After this we walked over to the main war memorial at Vimy Ridge and explored before having a whole year group photo. Everyone was very impressed by the mesmerising monument and respectfully explored the site.

Back on the coach for a short drive into Lille and we finally arrived at our hostel to drop our bags into rooms before heading out for dinner. We were wowed with some of John's wonderful French speaking skills as he chatted away with the staff at the hostel in their language!

A short walk and we arrived at Flunch for dinner, where Trinity exhibited some equally impressive French speaking skills before we all ate lots of delicious French food, including ice cream. It's fair to say after a day packed full of activities we were all very hungry!

Our final activity of the day was a tour round Lille with our French contact Laurent, he showed us the city and imparted many interesting facts on the children who also took many pictures of this beautiful city!

Finally we headed back to the hostel for showers and bed ready for the adventures that await us tomorrow!