Why teachers love Normandy for school trips... and why you will too

Here at Voyager School Travel we arrange school trips all over the world - some 29 countries and counting! But if you pushed us here in the office for a favourite you'd hear Normandy mentioned on frequent occasions. We have two residential centres and over 100 staff based in the region, so you could say we are part of the local Normandy community.  

Whether purely for French language immersion or for cross-curricular experiences, Normandy in northern France is a real winner. Here are just a few reasons why...

It's stuffed with history

For students studying history, Normandy is packed with memorable experiences. You'll be able to really bring your history lessons to life walking on D-Day landing beaches, visiting the poignant war memorials and exploring excellent museums and interpretive centres at places like Arromanches, Juno Beach and Caen. There's nothing quite like visiting the sites where these events took place to motivate and inspire. There's plenty of earlier history too. Just a couple of examples are Bayeux home to the famous tapestry and the uniquely beautiful island of Mont St Michel with its soaring cathedral and steep, cobbled streets.

It's a great base for any subject

It might only be a short distance from the UK, but Normandy is well, very French! Aside from the historic sites there's culture a-plenty to get your students enthused. You'll walk through landscapes that inspired famous Impressionist painters like Renoir and Monet and see their canvases in places like Giverny and the Eugène Boudin Museum at pretty Honfleur.

We are part of the Normany community and will recommend plenty of hands-on excursions that will expose your students to Normandy culture, such as visiting a local producer or market, ideal for trying out some French and sampling local food and drink. Whether you are teaching French Language, History, Art, Science and Geography - no matter the subject there's heaps of potential for learning here.

Our centres there are brilliant

We own and manage two language and activity centres in Lower Normandy - a fairytale Château surrounded by 100 acres of countryside and a gîte-style centre located just 2km from the coast with views towards Le Mont Saint-Michel.

We staff them ourselves which means we have complete control over the quality of the accommodation, the food and staff. It all adds up to a school trip experience that's tailored to you and your students' needs, comfortable, safe and the very best standard of instruction and care. Canoeing, climbing, archery, fencing and bread-making - the list of on-site activities is varied and long. And it's all under the supervision of our handpicked expert instructors. Students have all kinds of opportunities to learn new skills, to challenge themselves and to run off all that excess energy!

Groups looking for a Normandy experience closer to home, have the option of staying at Château de Chantereine on Upper Normandy’s Alabaster Coast. A mere two-hour coach ride from Calais transports groups to the pretty seaside town of Criel Sur Mer where our seasoned animateurs guide students in a fun and authentic French experience, igniting their language confidence and vocabulary like never before.

Language learning is totally immersive

Many of our school trips to Normandy are of course to learn French and we offer unrivalled French language immersion programmes. Group activities, day trips and even evening entertainment are all led by our native French animateurs. They'll be encouraging your students to speak French at every opportunity. You'll find your students will be having such a great time they'll hardly notice how much French they are speaking. Their confidence just blossoms and that translates into a classroom of motivated and energised learners when you get back to school.

 

More on this topic

• Normandy's seasonal highlights - special activities, traditions and festivals which only the locals know about
• When is the best time to travel to France - key points worth thinking about when choosing dates for your next French trip
• How we teach French using language immersion at our Normandy centres
• Find the right Normandy centre - use our handy tool to discover which of our French residentials is best for your group
• Check out all our Normandy school trips and residentials