Trips, Visits and Events
Dulwich Exchange - Inaugural Year
Vicki Salmon
Dulwich is a leafy London suburb with comfortable houses and flourishing gardens, back and front. From about 8 am and again from 3.45 pm the tree-lined pavements are lined with children of various ages in various uniforms making their way to and from one of the many independent schools in ‘the Village’. It felt like a bit of a throw-back to the 1950s, this affluent enclave, somehow quite separate from some of the more modest suburbs that surround it.
- In front of JAGS in Dulwich
However, despite the fact that it costs upwards of £ 12,000 to attend one of Dulwich’s prestigious schools, there was nothing remotely snobbish about the pupils or the teachers and we were very warmly welcomed. JAGS is a comfortable as well as a very academic place and our group were enthralled by the sublimity of the toilets for one thing; it was a job to haul them away from the sweet smelling soap!
Our 21 pupils, which included 4 girls from the German Section and one girl from the European Section, arrived in Dulwich on 30th April and stayed till 9th May. Each of our pupils stayed with a host family and picked up very quickly on the friendships they had formed with their correspondents when the Jags girls visited us from 8th to 18th April. Our SIS families pulled out all the stops for their visitors, taking them to all the high spots in Paris and beyond, so that they returned delighted with their stay and ready to give our pupils the best of times, both in and around London.
- Visiting Mme Tussaud’s
While in London, Pat and I took our pupils out on several visits. We saw Mme Tussauds waxworks, where they lined up for photo opportunities next to presidents Obama and Sarkozy, and Hampton Court, where they had a lecture from an historian in Tudor dress before being allowed to wander about the palace. We actually bumped into King Henry VIII himself, no less....or else someone incredibly like him, and one of his many wives, who looked a bit depressed, I thought. Two other highlights were the Docklands Museum, where we not only learned a great deal about the slave trade but also about resistance, in a drama session, and finally the Science Museum.
Otherwise, our pupils followed their partners into lessons, and we also enjoyed two activities laid on specially for us: a Shakespeare workshop with the drama teacher (drama being part of the curriculum in all British school) in Jags’ own theatre ( we were jealous) and a very inter-active history class which also brought in art history.
- At Hampton Court
We are hopeful that we will be able to run the exchange next year as it really was a great success, this despite the fact that we found ourselves in the epi-centre of a swine flu outbreak. Jags, however, unlike its neighbouring school Alleyns, was not affected and mercifully not shut down. That would have been a blow. Our pupils, I might add, like their host families, seemed very unworried by the story, and all returned home in the peak of health.
We are continuing to do our utmost to get some Dulwich boys on board for next year (Jags being an all girls’ school) but have so far had little success as the boys’ school already runs other exchanges with France. However, we remain hopeful, and all present 5èmes, particularly those with no Anglophone parents at home, should let us know if they wish to be considered for next year’s trip. You can send an email to vicki.salmon@sis-sevres.net
- Keeping a diary
Dernière modification le 02-06-09 par
