From 31^st January to 3^rd February ten pupils in years 3 & 4 from Whittington Primary School visited their partner school, École de Meilhards in France. This visit was part of the Staffordshire-Limousin partnership, with the two schools embarking on a joint food project to produce a book of traditional French and British recipes. . . . . . . .    |MORE|

 There was great excitement prior to the visit with the children taking part in a weekly French club to learn a few words to help them during the trip. Here is an account of the trip.

“We flew to Limoges airport - for three of our pupils it was their first flying experience, so it was very exciting for them! We were greeted by one of our host teachers, Marie Gésland, who had arranged coach transport and accommodation for us. Marie accompanied us to C.H.E.O.P.S. which is a residential educational conference centre and we settled into our rooms before trying our first French meal.

We were up early next morning - more excitement lay in store at breakfast time when the children realised that they had to drink hot chocolate from bowls!

The next two days were spent in school, getting to know our French pen friends. Our host school had worked very hard, preparing for our visit. The children introduced themselves and then went out to play in the snow.

We then worked on a joint art project for our food theme. We all painted a huge picnic rug and designed food and drink to attach to the rug. Our artwork is now proudly displayed on the school canteen wall! Everyone at school has a hot, three-course meal so this was a new experience for some of our children.

The afternoon was spent cooking cakes from the Limoges region. It took a while to gather enough apple slices for some of the cakes, as the apple kept “disappearing” whilst the children were slicing it!

Our final day in school was wonderful with a farewell party in our honour. We sampled the five cakes we had made the previous day and played traditional games from around the world. This gave us the opportunity to play together before we said our “good-byes.”

On day four the French school was closed because they don’t have school on Wednesdays. Marie took us on a French bus into Limoges where we used our Euros to buy local cake and chocolate to bring home.

The whole trip was a great success and was thoroughly enjoyed by the children. We have gained new friends and learned a lot about French culture!”

Look out for the bi-lingual cook book at Whittington’s Summer Fayre!