French language immersion at le Moulin aux Draps case study case study
Leventhorpe School French language trip
How Y9 & Y10 students got on at our school centre in Northern France
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“I have run a lot of residential and day trips to France over the years and this is by far the best. Claudia does a great job in planning the itinerary to make the most of our short time in France. She is very easy to work with and the communication is great. It’s hard to find a highlight as everything is so good!”
KEY FACTS ABOUT THE TRIP
- Dates: Tues 31st Jan - Thurs 2nd Feb
- Voyager’s 3* Moulin aux Draps hotel
- Group size 42 paying & 4 free places
Laetitia Lynch, Head of MFL at Leventhorpe School
Our Learning Objectives for the French school trip to the Moulin aux Draps centre were for students to practise their language skills outside the classroom in real life situations, to experience French culture, to improve confidence, resilience and independence as well as learning to collaborate with others and to deal with new experiences and situations openly and in a positive manner. We travel at this time of year because it fits well with the school calendar, the places we visit are less busy, it tends to be cheaper and we get the hotel to ourselves!
The itinerary is extremely well thought through, to maximise the time in France and minimise unnecessary travel time. We are only away for 3 days, but fit so much in. For example, on the first day we arrived in France at noon and went straight to the Boulangerie and Chocolaterie before going to the Moulin. The Boulangerie is a great cultural visit, led in French, making it a great start to immersing the pupils in the language.
Other visits included the Hypermarche, where the Voyager animateur (François) set our students some challenges, which they all enjoyed as it gave them some independence and forced them to practise their language skills. We also liked the visit to La Coupole. We didn’t specifically look to include a history visit for curriculum reasons, but students enjoyed the change.
François never gave up speaking in French to the students, so they soon realised they didn’t have any choice but to speak in French to him. In such a short trip they hear so much French, which is great.
The highlight of the trip is the visit to our partner school - Ecole St Joseph. The night before the visit we handed students a letter from the French student who would be their partner, to read a little about them. When we arrived at the school the students were a little nervous, but soon they started to chat in small groups and it went from there. The school visit definitely pushes the students to think on their feet and encourages resilience and confidence.
What about the accommodation?
This was our second time staying at the Voyager hotel (Moulin aux Draps). It’s a perfect location for all the visits - no long journeys on the coach. It’s also a lovely, quiet, safe and relaxing location. The standard of accommodation is absolutely brilliant and perfect for schools. The students and staff love it. Because we went in February, not only did all the teachers have single rooms, but we also had sole occupancy of the hotel, which was wonderful.
The food was fantastic - we all ate really well and there was always something for everybody (it was a good balance between French food and catering for English tastes). The students enjoyed trying the snails and dietary requirements were catered for extremely well.
What were the Learning Outcomes from the trip?
Students’ cultural awareness has improved as they have experienced this first hand and are enthusiastic about it. They are aware of cultural similarities and differences between them and their French partners.
Their enjoyment of the language has increased and although they are not fluent, they have realised they can cope in situations because they can find ways of expressing themselves and communicating.
Why do you choose to travel with Voyager?
We chose to travel with Voyager last year because of the opportunity to include a visit to a French school. We repeated the trip because last year went so well.
It is hard to pinpoint one best part of the service provided because the
service was excellent throughout, from the point of making the booking, to planning the trip with Claudia, to being on the trip with François and the other staff at the hotel.
Voyager also worked hard to ensure the trip came in on budget.
Headline Itinerary
|
Day 1 |
Arrive in France, visit Le Fournil Boulangerie & Beussent Chocolaterie, dinner at the Moulin hotel followed by evening entertainments with your animateur. |
|
Day 2 |
Hypermarche exercise with animateur, afternoon visit to La Coupole, dinner at the Moulin followed by evening entertainments. |
|
Day 3 |
Visit to College St Joseph, return to UK. |
What was included?
- 4 free places based on 42 paying students
- 3 days executive coach hire
- Return channel crossings
- 2 nights full board at the Moulin aux Draps
- Full time Animateur to accompany group
- French school visit and pre-trip links
- Insurance
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