French Exchange

Exchange to Millau 2013

Miss Fox and I have just returned from our annual school exchange to France.  This is the 7^th year of a very successful exchange programme between Prince Henry’s and our partner school “Le collège Jeanne d’Arc” in Millau, a very pretty town in the Aveyron region of southern France.  This year we took fourteen pupils; ten from Year 10 and four from Year 12.  We set off from Prince Henry’s at 4am to catch a 10.20 flight from Bristol to Béziers, followed by a ninety minute coach journey through some fantastic, mountainous scenery to arrive at Jeanne d’Arc around lunchtime.  We stayed there for a week, during which we spent time in the school observing lessons and also visited the sites which the local area has to offer, including the world-famous Millau viaduct, the Roquefort cheese factory and the fascinating sights and smells of the local market.

To get the full cultural and linguistic benefits of an educational trip to France, the pupils spend a week in the home of a French family, following their daily routine, tasting their food and speaking their language.  It is a pleasure to watch these initially nervous, slightly inhibited boys and girls throw themselves into these new experiences and to watch their confidence grow, both socially and linguistically, as a result.  By the time we left, our pupils had become firm friends with their exchange partners and we are all very much looking forward to October when we will have the chance to welcome them to Prince Henry’s on the return leg.

Mrs Boyle
Trip Leader