Visit to Senlis

On Monday 27 March, 15 students from Year 9 and 10 took the long journey from Bishop Auckland to Senlis, France to take part in the Le Fèvre project with our partner school Collège Anne-Marie Javouhey (AMJ).

The students had a very busy week visiting various towns and cities around the Somme. On Tuesday the group met the students from Collège AMJ and they spent the day together visiting Thiepval monument and museum as well as the Ulster tower, the Canadian memorial at Beaumont-Hamel and also the Lochnagar mine at La Boiselle. Both schools combined their art projects together which commemorated the battle of the Somme and a ceremony was held at our partner school where the Memory Tree sculpture was unveiled.

In true tourist style the group visited Paris for the day on Friday and visited many of the sites with Steve their trusty bus driver for the visit. With the weather in their favour, they took a relaxing boat trip along the Seine in the afternoon taking in more of the beautiful Parisian sites and buildings. The day ended at Notre Dame where some of the students and Dave decided to feed the pigeons which provided some excellent photo opportunities… especially when Miss Richardson unexpectedly ended up with one on her head!

Overall, it was a very memorable trip which allowed students to immerse themselves in a different culture, and practice their language skills. The students have made some great memories, and some are making plans to return to visit their French friends in the summer.