106 Year 8 pupils and 12 members of staff recently took part in a very successful and extremely enjoyable four-day French Trip to the Opal Coast.

Two coaches of pupils and teachers left Presdales School early on Monday morning and, after taking the Eurotunnel from Folkestone to Calais, arrived safely at their destination in Boulogne-sur-mer in time for lunch. In the afternoon, each coach group made a visit to ‘Nausicaa’, a sealife centre in Boulogne which specialises in educational and entertaining insights into the world of the oceans. Pupils enjoyed walking around and looking at the many tanks of freshwater and seawater life.

Once we arrived at our accommodation, we unpacked, settled in and had dinner. Later in the evening, girls grouped together to write their diary entries in French in their trip work booklets, and did some language work in preparation for the next day’s activities. The second day began with a visit to ‘Les Escargots du Bocage’, a snail farm, situated in the nearby countryside. They were firstly given a tour of the farm and then they were invited to sit in the shady courtyard of the farm to taste snail paté on toast, snails prepared in garlic butter and home-made jam, made from a variety of fruit grown on the farm. Despite reservations, almost everybody tasted the snails and many were pleasantly surprised, with some even going back for seconds.

After a picnic lunch on the beach at the beautiful, coastal town of le Touquet, the afternoon was spent completing a town trail. Many of the girls took time to do a bit of shopping, buy ice creams or order a drink in one of the many cafés, taking the opportunity to practise their spoken French.

The pupils were very excited about the planned activities for the third day which began with a trip to ‘Aqualud’, a big water park with waves and slides in le Touquet. The afternoon consisted of a visit to ‘Le Fond des Communes’, a goat’s cheese farm close to the village of ‘Montcavrel’, where they had the opportunity to ‘meet’ the goats and all the other farm animals. They then learnt how the goat’s cheese was made on the farm and even got to taste some in the farmhouse. The girls also made a visit to ‘Leclerc’, a huge hypermarket, where they were each given some Euros to complete a shopping task. This involved buying something typically French to take home and share with their families when they returned. When the girls made their final diary entries in their work booklets that evening, they also did a ‘show and tell’ about their shopping task purchases.

The teachers and the staff at the accommodation and visits were extremely impressed by the excellent attitude and behaviour of the Year 8 girls throughout the trip. The polite and friendly way in which they conducted themselves and their commendable efforts to practise their French during their four day stay in France meant they were a real credit to the school and a pleasure to take.

Madame Rowe