This year there are new pen friends for the students in Collège Albert Mathiez ! Why ? Who are they ? Where do they live ?… The European section tells you all about their pen friends. You will discover extraordinary things about them !
Cliquez ici si vous souhaitez lire l’article en français.
Why new pen friends ?
Last year the Europe Class had pen friends who studied in Unity City Academy (UCA) in Middlesbrough, North-East of England. The English students came to visit Marnay in 2013 and the French went to visit them in 2014. This year their teacher, Mrs Jones, has moved to another school whose name is St Sampson’s High School in Guernsey. So when our English teacher said : “You have new pen friends !”, we were very happy and curious to know more about their life.
What is special about their school?
Our pen pals are English students in Year 9 (4e) and Year 10 (3e), who are enthusiastic to learn French and to communicate with us. They study in Guernsey… Can you believe it ? The small island in the middle of the Channel between France and England !
The island is small, but their school is quite big. There is a football stadium, a swimming-pool… and they practise a lot of funny sports like hockey, netball and cricket… They are very lucky !
If we look at their calendar and timetable, we can see their school day is shorter than our school day (they leave at 3 p.m.), but they have less holiday weeks than French students, so in the end the French and the English have approximately the same number of school hours.
A symbolic motto and coat of arms
They have an encouraging and interesting motto, “Learning together”, which is a message of solidarity and means that everybody can learn. Their coat of arms is beautiful too : it consists in a puzzle with united people on the pieces, which represents equality and friendship, and a colourful lily flower which symbolizes perfection, light and life.
- Click here to see their logo on their school website.
Uniforms… a good thing?
They all wear a school uniform (a white shirt and a tie, a black skirt or black trousers, a black blazer and black shoes). We think it is better because they all look equal, there are no differences between students at school. But they are not allowed to wear jewellery, make-up or nail varnish. Too bad for girls !
What a great experience !
We are always happy to receive their letters. Exchanging with them is a positive experience for us because we can improve our English level and we can find a real friend. And when we do skype sessions, how exciting to chat with them ! We hope many more exchanges will follow…
Article rédigé par les élèves de 3ème européenne, avec l’aide de Mmes Brunner et Invernizzi.
- Pour voir le padlet où les élèves ont eu leur premier contact, cliquez ici.
- Pour voir le site de l’école anglaise, St Sampson’s High, cliquez ici.
