End of the Autumn term: highlights!

Hey guys! ⛄️

It's the 16th December today and I am heading back to Paris, fun times! Yesterday was the last day of term, I taught my very last lesson of the term which went very well (can't go wrong with quizzes and games, can we?) and then we had drinks + Christmas lunch with all the members of staff reunited, I had such a nice day and this kind of moments makes me realise how grateful I am to work in such a lovely school. As I am in my Eurostar with my computer, it gives me some time to think about all the good things that happened at school this term - not that I want to brag, I am just so amazed that you can have so much fun at your work place, and I do hope everyone is having an experience as nice as the one I am having.

The Christmas jumper I was wearing for Christmas jumper Day at work

Last photo of the School House before heading back to France

- I think I have to start with this one: at the beginning of November, the school organised fireworks for the members of staff, the students, their family, and even the locals. To me, finding "fireworks" and "school" in the same sentence is R E A L L Y unusual but I have to admit I enjoy watching them so I was thrilled! They even had stalls with food and drinks - I had my first glass of mulled wine for the occasion - and the fireworks were displayed with music: it was amazing even if it started raining at some point, but I guess it lives up to what we usually expect from the British weather! Unfortunately I did not get to take any pictures but watching them in person is the best anyway.



- This one isn't directly linked with the school but I had this opportunity thanks to it. In Sonning there is this lovely theatre called The Mill at Sonning where you can see plays, musicals, but also have a drink and a nice dinner. For the premiere of High Society, a musical based on The Philadelphia Story and the 1956 movie starring Grace Kelly and Frank Sinastra, the Mill nicely offered 10 tickets to the school (meal + musical) and the members of staff were given the chance to have their name drawn to attend the premiere and as I am talking about it, you can imagine I have been one of the lucky winners! It was the first time I was going to The Mill and the venue is just lovely: it looks very cosy, like a countryside house, and it was already decorated for Christmas as it was the 24th November. The food was delicious and I really had a good time with my colleagues. I didn't know much about the musical itself but I totally loved it! Very entertaining and funny, and as we have been lucky enough to have seats in the front row, we could see every actor very neatly as well as their acting which was as good as what you could see in West End. They also had wonderful voices and the songs were really catchy. If you live around, I would recommend you to just go for it, you won't be disappointed!

- Every year at the end of November in my school, some students which have an interest in drama/singing or who just want to get involve take part in the school musical. Last year Les Misérables was performed and I have heard so many good thing about it that I couldn't wait to see this one: Grease. About a fortnight before the show, the director of Drama at school were looking for members of staff who wanted to take part in the show backstage, helping with things such as make up and hair so I decided to volunteer! Indeed, getting involved at school was something I wanted to do and hair and make up sounded appealing to me plus as I am living at school, it is very easy for me to get there in a minute. The students performed during a whole week (Monday-Friday) therefore I went there every evening to help out. My task? Doing the boys's make up! It was not difficult, simply applying foundation and some blush so they don't look good on screen and it was fun to see their reaction through the week, from being relunctant having their make up done to asking for more blush by the end of the week! I would do the make up and then attend their warm up sessions that I particularly enjoyed: you could see how the teenagers were enjoying themselves and it would give a kind of positive ~vibe~. It was a nice experience getting to know more people and students and it was really rewarding to see the last performance on the Friday after having worked on it.

A photo I have taken during the warm up!

- Last but not least, the Science Department was going on a day trip to the Natural History Museum and Science Museum with the Year 7 students and there are a lot of these little ones, they needed members of staff to come along. The trip was on a Wednesday which happens to be my day off so I ceased the opportunity and went along! We left school at 9am to arrive there at around 10.30 and we were separated in two groups so we wouldn't bring 100 students in the museum at the same time. I first went to the Natural History Museum (one of my favourite museums as I mentionned in a previous post) then to the Science Museum where I went last month. I just had to look after a group of 15 pupils and I was free to look around and play tourist!

I feel really lucky to have a school where they organise so many interesting things and to have the occasion to get involved. During next term, I am going to Lille for a few days with my mentor teacher and some Year 13 and Year 12 students and I am already looking forward to it!

What have you been up to during this term?


Julie XX

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

HELLO EVERYONE!

The end of term is approaching therefore I am really starting to feel festive! As I have said in my previous post, I felt like I had to write a post about Christmas as it's such a big thing in the UK. It is only the 11th December at the time I am writing and I already feel like it's being the Christmas seasons for weeks! There have been Christmas decorations for awhile now and I had my first mulled wine at the beginning of November, something that would never happen in France unfortunately! I am going back to Paris in less than a week and I am really looking forward to see the city decorated for the occasion, as well as all my relatives to properly celebrate Christmas: I have watched Love Actually twice, have bought my Christmas jumper and done all my Christmas shopping so now I'm ready!

There is not much to add to what I have said already but I just wanted to share some pictures of the various Christmas markets I got to visit during my Erasmus year and this year or even cities decorated with Christmas lights so here you go:

CARDIFF

It was my first Christmas market in the UK and I loved it so much! It was also the day of a football match for which Wales was playing so the ambiance in the streets was just amazing!

LONDON

How could I mention the UK without London? Winter Wonderland (pic 1-4) is big and amazing, however, even if I visited it at the end of November, it was O V E R C R O W D E D...! I had to queue 40 minutes to get in but I got to see it in the dark, which was even better since there were Christmas lights everywhere! If you fancy going to a small amusement park and getting some mulled wine and sweets, you should definitely go! (also if you're not broke, it's fairly expensive). The last picture is Harrods, the British Galeries LaFayette! I didn't take any pictures from the inside but it's definitely worth seeing!

I had to take a picture with phone boxes on it #playingtourist

BATH

The last Christmas market I have visited this year: Bath. This city is beautiful during the whole year, but it becomes even more amazing during Christmas time: they make a real effort to decorate everything is unbelieavable, you even have Christmas decorations in the phone boxes! The market is probably one of the most popular in the UK and you can see it by how crowded it is from November onwards!

Fancy going to the North Pole?

BOURNEMOUTH

I went to Bournemouth mid-November to visit my friend Camille (thank you for hosting me again!) and I was pleasantly surprised to see they already had the Christmas market! Unfortunately I didn't get to take many pictures of it as it was raining the whole weekend.

When the pub is also decorated so it makes you feel at home>>>

NORTHAMPTON

I paid a visit to my good friend Julia in Northampton and even if they didn't have a Christmas market, there was still lights everywhere like in this street with a Christmas tree at the end! 

WINCHESTER

Last but not least: Winchester! This city is one of my favourite in the UK so I really love the Christmas market there. It is even better as it is next to the cathedral which I would recommend if you are nearby!

Have you been to many Christmas markets this year?




Julie XX

Settling in.

I have arrived in the UK one week ago now, it's going so quick! I wanted to write a post a bit before but I haven't found the time (laziness? What do you mean?) I arrived on Wednesday 21st, a bit early compared to the other language assistants as the contract is supposed to start on the 1st but I found it more convenient. I have been welcomed by my mentor teacher at the station which showed me around, from the school to the surroundings before leading me to my accommodation, the School House (aka Hogwarts) where I live with four very nice British teachers from the school. The following day was my induction day which means I had to meet with many people from the staff and deal with paperwork mostly. It is amazing how everyone seems to be nice here, it feels like you can never feel alone and isolated. My mentor teacher nicely took a lot of time to show me everything and to tell me about my prospective students: Year 12 French, Year 13 French, two students who have a French native speaker as a parent and three students meeting difficulties with French. I will also work along the French teachers of the Modern Languages Department a few hours a week, either to help or as a ~guest~.

Where I am going to live for a year  Hogwarts

Actually I started this post one week after my arrival and I am currently writing, one week later (it's getting complicated, I know.) I was feeling inspired and such when my DBS check came through so I had to quit on writing to plan my lessons for the following day, feeling excited but anxious at the same time - am I going to get lost in the school? What if my students don't show up? What if I end up not having anything to tell them at some point? #backtoschoolanxiety


My first day

It was on a Thursday, starting at 8.40am with the ~spiritual assembly~: every Thursday, a short 15-minute Assembly -where the whole school attends- takes place, dealing with religion and moral values. As a French person who received a state education, I am not used to such a concept but I have to say it's rather ...interesting? They also have a Business assembly every Monday. Thursday also happens to be "CCF" day in which the pupils/teachers take part in the cadets training and wear a military outfit. Witnessing the few differences compared to what I am used to on my first day was rather cool!
Concerning my lessons, they all last 35 minutes (it seems like this time has been adjusted for the Modern Languages Department which means most other subjects have double lessons) which is actually quite short! My first lessons were about getting to know my students in Year 12 and Year 13 while I started teaching the other ones I had on this day straight away. Everything went well, it wasn't my first experience in teaching and that helped me a lot to feel confident in front of the students. I attended some of the other teachers's lessons, helping in the classroom and sometimes taking part by reading a text to the class or answering questions. It is nice to do so as the students, especially the younger ones, were really excited to see me - I received a row of applause after reading the months of the year in French! :')
This first day left me very happy and enthusiastic, realising I am really doing what I want this year and I still feel this way after one week of being a language assistant. It is the very beginning so I'm waiting to see how it's going to go later on but I feel very happy with my life right now. ❤️

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

📚Funny things I've heard in the classroom:
- "Miss, you're so good in French, you're a genius!"

Me : - Can you spot Lille on a map?
Pupil: - Yes! *points Nice*.
Me: - Lille is close to England, can you try again?
Pupil; - *points the Mediterranean Ocean*


If you are a language assistant, how was your first day? Anything funny/nice to share?





 If you want an idea in which kind of ~atmosphere~ I was writing, listen to this!


Julie XX