Archives 2009-10
The Revision Trip 2010
par Paddy Salmon
All cars need a yearly “révision” and the same is true of Terminale students. This was our 3rd year at Lion-sur-Mer, a place for which we are developing a great fondness. Ben See, Betty Lau, Ruairi McCann and I set off with Michelle May for the first two days packed with English Literature Revision. This year we had more pupils than ever (76) and there were some complexities for a few pupils, who had to sit “concours” during our stay. Everything seemed to resolve itself well, however, and we were all very impressed with the level of commitment shown by the pupils and with their general friendliness and cheerfulness.
In the middle of the British elections, the teams swapped over and Michelle was joined by Ross Black, Peter Rist and Darren Griffiths for the H-G work over the next two days. They arrived in the evening to a rapturous welcome by the pupils. Much hard work was done by everyone, the sun shone, though the wintry north wind, for three of the days, was cruel. Some brave pupils paddled and splashed in the sea (briefly), many turned up at 7h30 in the cold dawn to do Tai Chi on the sand, to the lapping of the waves and a sun which was making as big an effort for a breakthrough as everyone else there. Three determined boys even turned up on the sand at 7h on the last day when the breakfast schedule was even earlier.
A BIG thank you to Judy Cellier, who organized the trip once again and so successfully, in spite of being unable to come with us this year. It is always one of those rare occasions in teaching where learning, leisure and life are shared (apart from my solitary adventure on the last day with an enormous rat - NOT in the centre luckily !). It is a chance for everybody to get to know each other better and the group solidarity, which is built up at this time, has to be ultra positive for all the pupils, both those who are struggling somewhat and those who aren’t, but who wish to go as far as they can in their subjects. As Che Guvara might have said, if he had been a pupil in the SIS, “Viva la Revision !”
Paddy Salmon
Some of the pupils’ comments :
Four days, locked up with our inter teachers, in a small town in Normandie - what an experience ! First thing that comes to mind is : oh how useful for the bac. After the holidays I had completely gotten out of the school ambiance and this was quite the perfect way to snap out of daydreaming about summer and re-focus on Larkin, Cold War, globalisation... Having teachers there for us practically 24/7 was very convenient, I especially recall revising for the bac blanc, sitting with only 2-3 other students in a room with Mr Black, Mr Griffiths and Mrs May, asking questions on the spot about things we hadn’t understood or simply forgotten. I wish I could revise like this for every test ! The town itself was rather gloomy, the weather very unfriendly. But I guess the whole point of the trip was to free ourselves from all distractions, which we did (or almost). Tai-Chi with Paddy in the morning was also a nice adventure, definitively worth waking up for at 7h30. All in all it was a unique experience that I would recommend to all future sis students. Four days were quite enough though, thank you very much ! (Mari)
The Tai Chi helped me open my chakras….. I have discovered the path of light beyond prejudice and subjectivity. (Cameron and Damien – two of the stalwarts of the last day !)
The Revision Trip transmits the wholesome benefits of sea, air creaky beds , and gruesome hard work, all supervised by nurturing teachers … (Sarah J)
The Revision Trip was a memorable experience, fun and, hopefully useful for the bac. We could go through the year’s programme, had much advice for the dreaded oral, and discovered the joys of Tai Chi. I especially enjoyed the H-G bac blanc we had on the Saturday, a bank holiday – I hope future generations will benefit from it. (Ariane )
What we liked about this trip.
- Lion-sur-Mer is cute (the beach is great).
- The centre is nice, rooms and food and chateau were cool ! And so was Tai Chi.
- Teachers were available for us which was encouraging and helpful.
- Revision was very useful, especially essay writing techniques and orals.
- There was working but there was also spare time to enjoy the place (and revise some more !)
- Less enjoyable – the English Bac Blanc before the revision… Overall, this revision trip was awesome !!!!!! Thanks for everything ! (Alice and Astrid) The Revision Trip helped me to feel more confident about the approaching OIB, mixing intensive literature and H-G studying with pure moments of relaxation by the beach. Though it was very exhausting, it is essential for us, helping us to improve our skills and train for the complex exams that are coming. One warning for future Terminales : it was very cold this year. (Andres)
Dernière modification le 22-10-10 par
