Editorial team: Nicola Bullough, Annie Divaret, Yasmin Hollis, Ian Macleod, Debbie Macklin, Hilary Moser, Philip Shaw-Latimer Student editors: Fiona Macklin and Catherine Russell

NEXT ISSUE MAY 2010

Visit the British Section website www.lycee-international.net

February 2010

No 96

The Br it ish Section Magazine Lycée InternationalSt Germain-en-Laye& Partner Schools

insitesOut and about

Education on the move

Headlines

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Headlines

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In this issue Headlines 3Aiming High

Primary 4 - 7Inspiring ideas, budding artists and pantomimes

Spotlight on Music 8 - 9Singing for students of all ages

Secondary 10 -15On Enrichment and recent school trips

BSPTG 16 - 17 More than business as usual

On stage 18 - 19The triumph of Hamlet

Student Shout 20 - 21Lycée life, logos, poetry and thoughts on Avatar

Etudes et Métiers 22Feedback from the APELI Forum 2010

Alumnae 23Chronicles of a graduate Photoboard 24

Cover photograph of troisième students on the London theatre trip in January taken by Roger Stephens

Section students have been exceptionally successful this year in obtaining offers of places from Oxford and Cambridge colleges. Four have been provisionally

accepted at Cambridge to read Law (2), History and Natural Sciences; three have offers from Oxford for Law (decidedly subject of the year!), History of Art and Philosophy, Politics and Economics. In most cases students are required to score 15/20 in the OIB this summer to have their place confirmed. Given the status of the universities and the quality of the competition, the offers are eminently reasonable; and – without wishing to tempt the Fates – the OIB track record of students in the past suggests that such a score should be within their reach.

This fruitful interest in ‘Oxbridge’ prompted me to talk to the seven individually about their experiences. They decided to apply in the first place for the obvious reason that our two oldest universities have world-class reputations (and why not aim high?); several pointed specifically to the style of teaching (the ‘tutorial’ or ‘supervision’ system) which enables students to build a strong academic relationship with a tutor. One girl said (engagingly) that she had wanted to study at Oxford since visiting it at the age of eight. Her parents had told her that it was impossible because she could not speak English at the time (!) so she was, of course, determined to go there. Another girl said (refreshingly) that it was the degree course and not the university itself which had determined her choice of Oxford. The choice of course certainly needs to be the result of careful research, supplemented by advice from Section staff. All students stressed the importance (“decisiveness” according to some) of college open days in putting them in contact with teachers and undergraduates and in helping them make up their minds – between Oxford and Cambridge in certain cases, between different colleges (there are over 30 in each place!) and between different subjects.

The objective needs to be settled before the end of Première because summer holiday work is vital. This generally takes the form of recommended reading and prescribed essays. For our scientist, it was important to check out A level and AS courses and compare their content and method with French syllabuses.

Once back at school, the application deadline (15th October) was swiftly upon our Oxbridge hopefuls. The applicants knew that they would face some form of independent evaluation by the university – either by tests such as the Thinking Skills Assessment, taken at school during the Toussaint break (general practice at Oxford) or, if they were called to interview, at the university itself (Cambridge). Oxford uses tests as a filter for the next stage. Our PPE applicant was one of 60 people applying to her college. After the TSA, the field was reduced to 25 for 8 places available.

The ‘next stage’ – itself an achievement if one gets there – is the celebrated Oxbridge interview, which has always played a decisive part in the selection process. Theoretically, applicants can expect two interviews – one general and one which is more subject-oriented. In the past, however, interviews have been notoriously difficult to forecast and have generated numerous whimsical anecdotes. This year, students report that they were mainly what they were expecting. They were often described as ‘difficult and challenging’ and sometimes humbling; but most students came away from them with the sense of a genuine, stimulating conversation rather than an exercise to catch

them out.

It is clear that the practice interviews organised beforehand, using Section staff but also the specialist expertise of parents (in the fields of Law and Science, notably) were of invaluable help in preparing the students to face

questions and in raising their confidence. There was also positive feedback about the role of the Section’s enrichment programme in treating issues and in challenging facile assumptions.

Of the seven students, two are classed as 100% British, three as 100% French and two come from a mixed linguistic home background. Three have been with us since nursery school; two joined us in the collège cycle (one via Français Spécial); and one is only in her third ‘international’ year, having entered through Seconde Accueil. They are, I think, an inspiring tribute to the diversity and to the mission of the British Section.

Philip Shaw-Latimer

Director, British Section

pshawlatimer@lycee-international.net

“ ...and why not aim high? ”

the interview: “the sense of a genuine, stimulating conversation”

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APPOINTMENT OF NEW DIRECTOR

On 24 September 2009, I sent a letter to all British Section parents advising them of Philip Shaw-Latimer’s intent to retire at the end of 2010. In the same letter, the existence of an ongoing recruitment process was announced and, I am pleased to say, it reached successful completion in early December as planned. More than 40 applications were received – internal and external - for the redefined post of Director of the British Section. The field was strong, and the candidate profiles varied greatly. A great deal of time and energy was needed to review and select candidates at each stage of the process. After an intense series of interviews held over three rounds, the full Governing Body was convened to meet, appraise and select the new Director from a final round of four applicants.

It was with great pleasure that I was able to announce that James Cathcart (above) was the unanimous choice at the final vote. James has a full timetable of teaching commitments until the end of this academic year. Nonetheless, he is finding the time to work with Philip on an informal, but structured, induction programme over the next few months. James is also being ably supported by the Senior Management Team and the members of the British Section staff. Insites looks forward to presenting a more detailed profile of the new Director. Meanwhile, Congratulations, again, James – and good luck!

Chris Lajtha President, BSPA

54

PrimaryInterested in ideas Feeding young minds

Authors and illustrators

In Primary and Maternelles, our programmes of study include challenges at each

year level for our pupils to become enthusiastic, fluent, independent authors writing for many different purposes and audiences. The classroom teaching explores opportunities which foster positive attitudes about authorship and a keen interest in the ideas and feelings which the pupils wish to communicate.

A rich reading diet is essential and we are particularly attentive to our literary environment, providing pupils with ready access to a wealth of books - both fiction and non-fiction - to newspaper articles and magazines. Teachers feed pupils’ minds by regularly reading a range of children’s literature by authors, both past and present and from around the world. Library activities offer children time to browse, to read quietly to themselves and above all, to discuss their opinions and feelings about what they have read.

The spoken language environment is also crucial. Children’s writing is greatly influenced by opportunities for speaking and listening. Oral ability drives literacy: the first seeds are sown as teachers respond to ideas and contributions during the discussions which precede any piece of writing. Drama offers further opportunities to take on real or imaginary roles in the past, present and future and many of the class topics inspire pupils to write in role, bringing emotion and empathy to their texts.

Annie Divaret

Head of Primary

The Water HorseDick King Smith’s 'The Water Horse' is

the story of two children who find the egg of a sea creature on a beach in northern Scotland in the 1930s. The egg hatches and the children are faced with the challenge of finding a home big enough for the rapidly growing monster. In 9ème/CE2, we read the story up to the point where the creature has become too big for the lochan near the children’s house. Then we stopped reading and the class were asked to finish the story.

To make their writing effective, the children needed to do three things. They had to solve the problem of finding a home for Crusoe the Water Horse for once and for all. They needed to keep the characters in their own writing consistent with those in the book, and the solution had to be feasible in the Highlands of Scotland in the 1930s. Finally, they needed to include lots of interesting details in their recounting of the story, so that the ending read like a real novel.

The children also wrote newspaper articles reporting on a sighting of the Water Horse in Loch Ness.We hope you enjoy reading the results!

Janet Fox

At the beginning of April, Crusoe was now the size of a blue whale, but luckily, they had thought of a plan. They would borrow a boat — a big boat! They would borrow Dad’s boat! Grumble, Mum, Dad and Kirstie would go, leaving Angus behind. Kirstie asked, “What about

Angus? He will eat all the cookies in the house.” “Never mind that, Kirstie!” exclaimed Dad, “He’s allowed, just for once.”

Grumble started to pull hard on the oars and stopped in the middle of the lochan. Kirstie shouted Crusoe, Crusoe, and Crusoe came immediately and followed the trail of cookies. Grumble was moaning because his arms were tired.

Finally they arrived where the river widened. They climbed onto Father’s enormous boat and then meandered down the river which leads to the glittering and silvery sea.

Before night fell they walked out to the lochan with the boat and a lamp. When they arrived, Crusoe came towards them. Then they held out the biscuits and Crusoe followed them onto the boat. They rowed out into the narrow river and down to the salty sea. They lured him carefully out of the boat and into the sea. Then they walked silently home.

! They thought they had lost him forever. They went down each day. Then they found the most amazing thing ever, Crusoe had laid an egg. “Here we go again“, chuckled Angus.

! Yesterday at 3pm Mr and Mrs Divaret were out for a stroll near Loch Ness when they saw some unexpected movements underneath the calm surface. After a few moments, a huge beastie broke the silence of the countryside as it performed a few twirls in the air before plunging back beneath the dark surface. — When they had recovered from the shock, the couple reported it to the local paper. The beastie was described as having a head of a horse, flippers like a fish and an oval body like an egg.

! A photographer has been sent to take a picture of this mysterious creature, for conclusive proof. We, The Scotland Times, hope that he will manage this special job. The camera man will stay there till he gets a photo.

Our budding illustratorsOur 11ème/CP writers love listening to

the story ‘The Snow Lambs’ written and illlustrated by Debi Gliori. A fascinating winter’s tale, which captures the atmosphere and tensions of a snowy, blowy night, when Sam, warm and safe in the farmhouse, worries about Bess, his sheepdog, alone on the bleak hillside. The book is cleverly designed with contrasting interior-exterior pictures on each double page and the teachers use this layout, both text and illustrations, to explore and extend descriptive language.

This past month has provided ideal climatic conditions for our young authors and illustrators to experience the colours and textures of winter landscapes. Exploring and observing the shapes and patterns around them, they drew their own winter landscapes which will act as an inspiration for discussion and written texts.

Jill Johnstone

Inspired by buildings and landscapesWhen the author, Linda Newbery, visited

Primary pupils last term, she explained how often she was inspired to write following a visit to an interesting house or beautiful landscape. Her story ‘Nevermore’ is woven around one such visit to an Elizabethan manor which not only suggested the setting but also inspired some of the characters.

A photograph of an abandoned farmhouse on a lonely, windswept moor in the northeast of Scotland provided inspiration for a story setting for 7ème/CM2 writers:

! Standing patiently, the house waited as the years passed. Its ancient door waits to be swung open. Old and rotten, it lets in draughts and its rusty hinges creak loudly. Two decaying chimneys stand pitifully on the roof. Dull grey slates tumble slowly to the ground. Lichens, weeds and moss invade the desolate building.

! The pitiful house gazes blankly as if every hope is gone. Derelict for the past twenty years, it is in ruins and darkness. Weeds creep into the obscurity of the ruin. Parts of the roof are gone and the windows are as bare as a bush in winter.

! Alone on the moors the wind whistles menacingly around it. The oak door swings to and fro loosely on one hinge. Twin chimneys stand erect on the roof’s mossy carpet. Slates fall and crash to the ground. Cruel barbed wire forbids intruders.

! Standing on the top of a steep mountain an old house sits isolated in the middle of a barren field. The face of the house is ragged by time. Blank eyes stare silently and sadly at the landscape. Long ago it was a lovely manor but now it is broken and abandoned.

! Perched high on a mountain is an old manor whose fields were once rich in crops. Now the old house stands trapped in the surrounding landscape, left to stare out of its sad blank windows. Worn by past centuries, the once healthy house just deteriorates.

! After war broke out, a terrible decay set in and destroyed everything in its path leaving nothing but an old lonely house. It stands all alone on the jagged coastline staring miserably out of its plain windows.

!

!

!

Committed to the continuing development and well-being of our pupils, the Section

organizes a series of information meetings for parents of pupils in 7ème/CM2 who at the end of the school year will enter the college cycle. The meetings are held on the different sites on which the Section is present.

At the beginning of this second term, meetings were held at the Lycée and the Collège des Hauts Grillets. Both meetings were chaired by Philip Shaw-Latimer and presentations were given by Mme Chappe-Robert, Mme le Principal Adjoint, and Anne Davis explaining the organizational features of the Lycée while at the Collège des Hauts Grillets, Xana Jones,

accompanied by Mme Ansart, Mme le Principal, outlined specific aspects of the collège site.

The bridging process, organized by the 7ème teachers and the college leaders, provides opportunities for those pupils who will attend either the Collège des Hauts Grillets or the Collège Pierre et Marie Curie to spend time in the schools, discovering the buildings, meeting the teachers and exploring the libraries.

All pupils receive an induction to the collège libraries organized by Hilary Moser and her team of librarians.

Annie Divaret

Moving up into Secondary

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Primary

Smiling the Biggest Smiles in the World

Nothing beats a good pantomime during the festive season. They are always fun for the audience and cause plenty of giggles for those on stage. Here are some scenes from the array of Fairy Tale pantomimes performed by 10ème/CE1 pupils in December:

In Sleeping Beauty, the Black Fairy flies into a rage on stage (top); the handsome prince gently awakes the sleeping princess (middle).

In the Emperor’s New Clothes, an embarrassed Emperor, tricked by the cheats, is left standing in his boxers (bottom left)!

In Snow White, the Seven dwarfs line up, ready to go to work (bottom right).

Our pupils singing and reeling at the start of the traditional Burns’

Supper on the 23rd January in the Collège Marcel Roby, organized by the Twin Town Association St Germain – Ayr, to commemorate Scotland's most celebrated poet.

Pantomime time!

READATHON 2010Primary and Maternelle

readers invested all their energy and enthusiasm in our

annual ‘Readathon’ fund raising project, raising the fabulous

sum of 2860 € / £ 2600.

The money will go towards making long term and

chronically sick childen’s lives more comfortable and happier.

A BIG THANK YOU to all the pupils and parents for

their support.

“Pleased to meet you, Catherine Rayner.”

On Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th February all the CP/11ème and Maternelle 3 classes in

turn have been both charming hosts and willing participants in workshops run by prize-winning illustrator and author, Catherine Rayner.

“Sh! That’s Catherine Rayner standing there!”

Catherine shared with each class her love of illustrating, storytelling and having fun because she understood that at their age listening to stories is active. So as Augustus the tiger lost his smile and set off to search for it, the children practiced having “...the biggest smiles in the world”. When adventurous Augustus finally found his smile watching the pattering of raindrops, the children wondered what thoughts would inspire them to smile so much.

“How did you draw the stripes on Augustus?”

Before enjoying the story of Harris the hare, they noticed that the distinguishing features of a hare are long, pointed ears, whiskers and large feet. Then the whole class pointed their stretched hands and attached them to the sides of their heads making their own hare’s ears. Then they were wiggling their fingers as whiskers. So, of course they had to bounce as if they were hares too.

“Why is Harris’ tummy so white?”

For many of the children one of the highlights of the workshop occurred when Catherine read to them from her next publication, Norris due out in April 2010, and invited their comments. There were gasps of amazement as they realized that they

were the first people to see the finished book as she had just received it from her publisher.

“I love it. Will you read it again?”

Ca the r i n e s howed some o f her sketching books to the children, demonstrating how she made many sketches of animals, highlighting their distinguishing features before naming each character. The children were fascinated by her tiny home-made planning booklets fastened into her sketch books.

“How did you make Augustus (the Siberian tiger) so small when he is climbing the mountains?”

She challenged them to identify the character she was creating in pastels on a huge sheet of paper in front of them. There was intense suspense as they puzzled over the emerging shapes and layers of colour and finally gasps of relief as they made sense of the forms and gradually saw the familiar character appear.

“I want to be an illustrator. I want to do that!”

In each workshop there was time for the children to follow up on their enjoyment. Acting on Catherine’s inspiration they began to create their own characters, drawing and writing, sharing their ideas with each other. Many of them were inspired to reread the stories. These excellent workshops were part of the BSPTG's External Speakers Programme and we are delighted that Hilary Moser and her team organized such an appropriate, high quality and fruitful visit.

Jill Johnstone

Spotlight on music

Students in song

9

For several years, children and teachers in the Primary department have

been fortunate to enjoy regular visits from music teacher Jules Harding, who helps to open our ears, minds and hearts to the wonders of music. Here, he explains why music matters in our young children’s lives:

If one drops into general conversation that one is a primary Music teacher, and then goes on to explain that one is an Early Years specialist, that is usually the end of the conversation. One of the reasons for this is that Music is generally misunderstood, but is equally generally consumed.

Music’s place in Primary Education If we accept Plato’s premise that the purpose

of Music was to stir the emotions, this alone might not guarantee it a place on every child’s timetable. The 3-7 age range spans a huge range of ability - still more true of 3-11; for a teacher, this represents a unique chance to see something implemented and consolidated that should be a long-lasting source of pleasure to all.

I think of Music as a key to unlock Culture. Singing texts relates immediately to poetry, and literature, its physical aspect to biology and medical science. It also gives children a means of understanding the world of sound, and a vocabulary.

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Guitar lessonsin English

An all-girls choir for Lycée students from Seconde to Terminale

It is quite difficult to find something that will make a group of twenty-something girls want to stay at school after a grilling day of long, laborious classes. Some of you may have heard of us. We started as a small group last year, after a few girls had the wonderful idea of forming a choir, and ever since our debut performance at the 2008 Christmas Concert, Harmony has been gradually growing, progressing under the radar, gaining more experience and expanding our repertoire. This year, Lucie Catillon from the American Section, and I, both students in Terminale, take on the responsibility of leading the group, with double the determination! We work together in musically directing the songs, strongly taking into consideration any suggestions and feedback from the group. Our style varies from gospel, to chamber, jazz and even musicals, and arranging when necessary or inspired! You would not have thought that such words as “Ingonyama nengw enamabala” (from the ‘Circle of Life‘) could be the perfect way to forget about all those worries, all those stressful things that may occur on a normal day in the life of a lycée student.

We are open for anyone to join, and take pride in welcoming newcomers, no matter what their singing experience is, whether they’ve been studying music for seven years, or whether they only ever sing by themselves in the shower! This is one of the reasons why being part of Harmony is such a rewarding experience. I find that bringing together a group of people with different personalities, different qualities and from all different backgrounds, to work together and to make music is refreshingly exciting and so much fun to be a part of.

Harmony is now more than just a choir. To say we are like one big “family” would be a cliché, but the image fits. We are a community of friends, old and new, who get together every Wednesday in the Music room of the Lycée International.

We support each other, work hard to play hard, and focus on simply enjoying the music and the moment. Every week I leave rehearsal feeling so proud of what everyone has achieved. Harmony makes me beam with joy and it is so fulfilling to see this joy shared with such a fine, fun and genuine group of committed girls.

Vicki Harris

VOX is the one and only a-cappella singing group of the Lycée International. “A-cappella” – the Italian for “from the chapel” – is vocal music performed without instrumental accompaniment. In practice, this means that, besides singing the lyrics of a song, we also “sing” the different instruments that support the vocals, from the keyboard to the electric guitar. In fact, besides the usual SATB voices we also have a Beat-box, who is specialized in imitating the drums. I would say the originality of VOX is that, beyond singing, we use our voices to make music.

VOX counts some 16 singers from Seconde to Terminale and is open to all Sections (although the majority of us are either British or American). Since we run the group ourselves, with the music director and the president in charge of coordinating everything, we decide for ourselves on what we do during the year, as long as we put on a decent show! Every year the group is recreated (as we hold auditions to replace the previous Terminales) and is able to explore different paths, which makes VOX a very dynamic and resourceful ensemble.

We usually stick to a modern Anglo-American repertoire, which nevertheless ranges from The Beach Boys to Queen and to Katie Perry. We even had a go at rap a couple of years ago! Most of the time we learn our parts directly off the score, which requires a lot of concentration and discipline, but that way we’re able to get through some quite technical (and rewarding) songs.

Apart from our major concert in May, we try to perform regularly throughout the year, alongside other groups of the Coopérative such as Harmony, but also outside the Lycée. For example, last year at Christmas we sang at a reception for the homeless and at an institute for disabled children. This year we hope to renew the experience, because we feel that singing is also about giving joy to others.

Théophile Désarmeaux, music director

How do we go about it?Start them off young; start simple.

➛ Sing to your children; rock them; walk to places regularly; march – if possible sharing rhymes or poems. It’s unnecessary to be an experienced or a trained singer to teach children to enjoy singing! Only a tiny proportion of the human population (0.2%) is really unable to produce a single note.

➛ Talk about the way things feel; in our cultures this is easy to ignore – or undervalue.

➛ Take them to shows, concerts, theatre; anywhere there is live music. If you cannot answer all the subsequent questions, that is what the library is for!

➛ Be a musician. Perhaps the hardest point; but your children will find a value in learning something if a parent is doing it too.

➛ Taste; your children will not like what you like. This aspect of Music has nothing to do with Education and everything to do with the construction of Identity.

➛ Who would not say speaking is more important than singing? Yet very small children pick that up: the same muscles and the same neurones are used for both.

Application I used to think that Music was a stand-alone

subject. Over the years I have become more convinced of the need to relate subject areas; since Music is a language system, like the other Fine arts, skills learned in second-language learning are useful in learning Music and vice versa. Here we are not talking about specific skills like learning to sing in canon. Try this before the group is having fun singing in unison: you get the same looks on the faces of young children as when you explain the reasons for Global Recession!

➛ Text ski l ls : knowingly experiencing and sometimes removing vowels and syllables

in singing simplifies and concretizes the transcription process in

emerging writers.

VOX is COOL Harmony

8

The a-capella singing groupVoxPhoto by Alex Lakin

➛ Speaking is more important than singing; speak out, extend the vowels, add pitches. That’s singing!

➛ Abstraction – making ‘noises’; before using the text, try other sounds on the pitches. This works the brain!

➛ ‘Jazz patterns’ – remove the text, leave the stress pattern – a technique from ESL training.

➛ Memorization techniques: “responsibility” or ‘owning’ a line for the group feeds taking responsibility as such.

➛ Expertise in the class: ‘what you know about’ or ‘what you remember’. Pupils listen to and value opinions of others.

➛ Expertise in languages other than English brings the second-language learner into the activity. ‘How do you say that in Russian/Spanish/ Korean?’

Cultural heritage➛ Regions and countries have specific cultural values present in their Music, and, in particular, folk music. Learning these songs and their background provides a key to other cultures and links with social sciences; historical and geographical references abound in regional and folk songs, which is enriching to explore. Hence there is no such thing as ‘foreign’.

Rhythm One of the essential building blocks of Music,

rhythm deserves an article to itself.

➛ Awareness of rhythm; from the smallest micro vibrations to the breath to movements of tides and years; from the heartbeat to the cosmos. This links to Physical Fitness, Dance and Athletics, Qi Gong, Tai Chi and Yoga.

➛ Rhythm is an essential tool for making sense of the world of sound; rhythmic movement is an essential component of development. Coordination for large athletic movements needs to be as controlled as for tiny ones needed in instrumental playing. Coordination is not an abstract idea; it is something that everyone needs to master. Over my years of teaching, I have seen the level of

children’s rhythmic ability decline. We used to be able to say; ‘children are born with a sense

of rhythm’. Perhaps, as in the film ‘Wall-E’, the Humans are destined to be bubbles,

but if you don’t think so, it’s time to start walking towards a sense of rhythm, a joy in everyday movement, and (who knows?) perhaps fitness too!

Jules Harding

1110

SecondaryAn enriching programme

Many good schools in the UK organise what is variously called a

General Studies or Enrichment programme for pupils in the Sixth Form (Première and Terminale). This generally involves holding debates on topical issues and inviting outside speakers to talk and field questions about their experiences in different fields of human endeavour...The rationale for such a programme no doubt emerges from the fact that pupils in the UK specialise relatively early by taking five subjects at Advanced Subsidiary Level (AS Level) in the Lower Sixth (Première) and three subjects for Advanced Level (A2 Level) in the Upper Sixth (Terminale). Although our pupils continue to study a wide range of subjects for the Option Internationale du Baccalauréat, we nonetheless felt that we could be doing more to help raise our pupils’ heads above the parapet of examination preparation, to make connections between what they study in school and the outside world and give them an insight into what is like to study at university. Hence, the British Section inaugurated its own Enrichment programme last September for pupils in Première and Terminale.

The programme started with a series of after-school debates on issues ranging from ‘Is it ever right to break the law?’ to ‘Should the British National Party be given a voice in the British media?’ However, it rapidly branched out to include attendance at external events. For example, a group of pupils attended a presentation and debate on climate change organised by the Rotary Club at the Mairie in St Germain-en-Laye and, as you will see from the article below, Mrs Marks took a group to the conference ‘Your Future in Europe’ held at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.

Over the coming months, we hope to welcome a number of outside speakers including the Head of the Intercultural Dialogue Section of UNESCO who has offered to lead a debate on ‘History as a tool to promote mutual understanding between cultures’. We also hope to have visits from professional historians to speak about topics such as the French Occupation as well as from academics researching areas from neuroscience to finance and management.

Over the next few months, Hilary Moser and I will be putting forward a programme for the next academic year and we would welcome suggestions from parents. Please email your ideas to jcathcart@lycee-international.net

James Cathcart

Your Future in Europe

As part of the Enrichment programme, Julie Marks, took a group of our students to listen

to and challenge experts on key European issues at a recent conference at the Palais des Congrès.

On occasions it is important to be given the chance to listen to speakers who inspire us to think beyond our everyday lives to consider current issues and challenges. The conference ‘Your Future in Europe’ in December did just this.

The conference was attended by over 2,500 students aged 17/18, including a group of our Première students. Seven sessions were presented by excellent speakers, ranging from leading politicians to experts in European business, economics and culture, who gave opportunities for students to both listen to and challenge the experts.

Peter Luff, Director of Action for a Global Climate Community, Chairman of the European Movement, and a former Director of Amnesty International and the Royal Commonwealth Society, looked at the social, political and economic events that have helped to shape the Union and gave us an overview of the future of Europe. He reminded us of how far Europe has come since the Second World War, and explained that the EU can give hope to the rest of the world: as a result of the 8 enlargements there are now 27 countries co-operating and working together. David also described a major concern he has with the British media who he feels do not understand the importance of being part of Europe.

David Magliano, MBE, a favourite with the students, is Director of Commercial and Marketing at England 2018, the organisation responsible for England’s bid to host the 2018 Football World Cup. One of his previous roles was Director of Marketing for London 2012. He gave an intriguing insider’s account of the thinking behind the winning British bid for the 2012 Olympics, highlighting the power of marketing.

Dr. Vincent Cable MP, one of the most respected speakers of the day, has had a varied career which includes time at the Foreign Office, Chatham House and as Shell’s Chief Economist. He is currently Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats. Vincent explained the causes of the financial crisis, and said that academic text books need to be re-written as the economic theories have been proven to be in-correct. He explained that a wise economist never predicts the future but rather outlines possible scenarios, which he did. He stressed the importance of emerging economies and western industrialized economies co-operating in future to avoid trade

Diverse, controversial and interesting -

A student’s viewI went in imagining that the speakers would

focus only on Europe, and that they would talk

about subjects I had already encountered. However,

I was really surprised by the themes and focuses of

the speakers’ talks. Indeed, I was not expecting to

learn more about how England won the bid to stage

the 2012 Olympics.

I particularly appreciated the fact that not all

the presentations were made in the same tone,

and that humour was present. Arne Mielken’s talk

about the Erasmus program acted as a pleasant

interlude, between ‘Business in Europe’ and ‘An

Economic review’. Vincent Cable’s review of the

European situation concerning the economic crisis

was particularly interesting. Indeed his explanation

was made extremely clear by comparing the world

finance system to a sick patient. I also enjoyed

this presentation because he did not impose his

interpretation of the economic crises, but rather

included many different visions, and underlined that

the future might either be positive or negative. Most

important certainly was question time. It allowed us

to contradict and criticise the speakers. The panel

was made up of a member of each of the major

parties in the UK, plus a Human Rights defender.

This allowed us to obtain very different points of

views and thus more complete answers to some

controversial questions. It also instigated debate

between the speakers.

Thus, the conference was very diverse, including

subjects such as Business, Economics, Erasmus

and even Sport. The speakers gave their views

on controversial issues and also increased our

knowledge of the way Europe works as a whole.

I also believe we had a special point of view, being

the only French students in the room. We thus got

an idea of the English point of view on everyday

French debates, such as the Burqa or integration of

North African migrants.

Martin Nicolle

BioéthiqueOnce again this year, a group of 17 students in

Terminale L and Terminale S – including five from the

British Section – took part in the Journées Annuelles

of the Comité Consultatif National d’Ethique. This

is an event held at the Université Pierre et Marie

Curie, Paris every November. The (excellent)

idea is that groups in various schools around the

country research in depth a scientific topic which

raises ethical issues and causes difficulties for le

legislateur. The eight groups then present the

results of their work to each other in a forum

at the university; and each project is evaluated

and complemented by researchers and university

teachers who are experts in that given field. This

year’s subjects covered spare-part surgery (with

input from lycées in Montbeliard and Marseille) and

antenatal issues (la recherche sur l’embryon from a

school in Strasbourg). Previous Lycée International

topics have included surrogate motherhood and

cystic fibrosis; this year’s was les nanotechnologies,

informer sur l’invisible. The students presented this

as a dramatised debate which threw into relief the

benefits of nanotechnology (in blasting cancerous

tumours with great precision, for example, and

thus avoiding collateral damage) and the potential

dangers (the infinitely small can get into places

where it has no business to be). The presentation,

which was repeated at the Lycée to domestic

audiences on two afternoons in January, brought

home to me just how unaware we are of the

already widespread use of this technology.

Congratulations to the group and to my French

SVT colleague Isabelle Labavre who, working with

Mme Guernon (Philosophy), provided leadership

and guidance for the students.

Philip Shaw-Latimer

Staff newsMr John Cannon retired as a full-time British

Section teacher at the end of last term but has

remained on the staff in order to continue

teaching Seconde Accueil. Two of his three

collège-level classes have been taken over by

teachers already on the staff – Mrs Claire Lewis

(5ème Lycée International) and Mrs Sally Naylor

(4ème 1 at Le Pecq). Ailsa Weymes McElderry

joined us in January to teach the third class

– 5ème I at Pierre et Marie Curie.

Mrs Weymes McElderry, who is the

mother of two British Section students

(6ème and 7ème), holds a modern languages

degree (French and German) from Newcastle

University. She worked in the City of London

for four years before training to be a teacher

at Durham, where her postgraduate certificate

of education included a course in Drama. After

various teaching posts in the UK, Ailsa arrived

in St Germain some years ago and taught

English and History for two years at the Institut

Notre Dame, where she also founded and ran

a bilingual section magazine. The family then

moved to Hong Kong for a 30-month spell and

Ailsa worked as Coordinator of French in the

(highly regarded) Chinese International School,

where Ted Faunce, Head of our American

Section (1997-2006) is now the Director. The

move back to St Germain took place in the

summer of 2009. We know we can count on

Ailsa to bring plenty of energy and ideas to the

teaching of her 5ème class and we are pleased

to have her working in the English department

for the rest of this school year.

Philip Shaw-Latimer

restrictions and protectionism which could result in a downward spiral such as was witnessed in the inter-war period.

Shami Chakrabarti was a very popular speaker. Director of Liberty (The National Council for Civil Liberties) since September 2003, she is passionate about the defense and promotion of human rights and values in Parliament, the Courts and wider

society and she transmitted this in a very engaging manner.

The highlight of the day was Question Time. The panel of leading MPs - Vincent Cable, Caroline Flint and Shami Chakrabarti - faced the audience and the students were encouraged to voice their own opinions and questions which

proved to be of a very high quality. My lasting impression was of a large group of students who were very interested in and motivated by the issues and challenges presented during the day.

Julie Marks

“a wise economist never predicts the future”

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12 13

SecondaryOut and about

“surviving as a peasant in medieval London”

It was still dark as the coach set off carrying 53 5ème students and 5 members of staff all the way to England. No one was particularly sleepy though, in fact there was a jovial atmosphere on the coach as we headed north. The journey was happily uneventful and we crossed the channel with ease. Arrival at a service station in England however, heralded some big problems. Firstly, tea was only served in plastic cups which were frankly unacceptable. And second Mr. Jackson was left wondering whether we would have to leave before his big breakfast was served….

Onto the day’s main attraction – Rochester Castle. Rochester stands on the River Medway and protects the river crossing on the road to London. It is an imposing place. Our students

were impressed and busily went about their business, c o l l e c t i n g e v i d e n c e , examining the stones for evidence of walls, floors and fireplaces and taking in the amazing views from the top of the 34 metre high keep. On our way back to the coach we were able to spend some time in Rochester Cathedral, also an impressive building, and our students were a real credit to the school – polite, calm and engaged. Arriving at the Hostel we had an evening meal followed by the chance to win great prizes in Mr. Lowe’s Fantastic Quiz (well done Team Refrigerator!)

and then we took our weary selves to bed.

Friday was busy. We began at the Museum of London and students were able to view a huge variety of artifacts which helped tell the story of the city in the Middle Ages. They also watched a rather gruesome film on the impact of the Black Death and tried their hand, using the interactive games, at surviving as a peasant in medieval London (the author of this report failed miserably – run over by a horse and cart aged just 15…). The shop at the museum was well stocked which was just as well. Our students did their best to help rejuvenate the British economy and I suspect assisted greatly in helping to bring the country out of recession. After a stroll past St Paul’s we followed in the footsteps of Kings, Queens, Traitors and Ravens at the Tower of London. For many students this was the highlight of the tour – the Crown Jewels are quite astonishing and there was so much to see that we barely knew where to start. We completed our day in London

with a tour of London by night. Our guide was excellent and we saw Bridget Jones’s flat, Harry Potter’s pub, the little cafés in the middle of the road where the cabbies get their breakfast, David Beckham’s flat and the art gallery where John met Yoko. Oh, and some big clocks and palaces too.

Before our shuttle home we spent a couple of hours at Dover Castle, a place where the layers

of history are set out before your eyes. The Roman lighthouse stands by the Anglo-Saxon Church which is in the shadow of the Norman Keep which overlooks the First World War look out emplacements which are just

above the Second World War tunnels. As with the other places we visited the main complaint from the students was that we didn’t get to see everything!

Chris Lowe

British Section teachers give a great deal of their time outside the

classroom to enhance the learning experience and to make it fun! In recent months, staff and students have been on a number of trips, on both sides of the Channel. Here, in words and pictures, we invite you to share some of the highlights ...

Happy (British) Christmas!A day trip to London for 6ème Group 2

December may have seen more than usual mayhem on public transport with strikes, snow and the Eurostar fiasco but none of this was sufficient in preventing 6ème Group 2 at PMC from gathering early in the morning at Gare du Nord for their day trip to London. The theme of the day was a British Christmas with a programme specifically organised by Mr Eccles and Mrs Steadman for students whose acquaintance with such traditions may be limited.

Having arrived early in London we took the tube straight to Covent Garden which, despite the season, was virtually empty, allowing us to make the most of Christmas shopping opportunities. Thorntons and Whittards gave us an introduction to such “incontournables” as toffee and tea whilst the staff at HMV were amazed by French 11 year-olds’ obsession with The Beatles as we cleared their stock of posters of the Fab Four. The shopping section of the day was given a more literary focus as we colonised the teen fiction section of Waterstones although “3 for 2” proved a difficult concept for the students to grasp!

We then walked down Charing Cross Road to Trafalgar Square to pay our respects to Lord Nelson and to look at the lights and Christmas tree. We caught a glimpse of Big Ben before taking a double-decker up The Strand to a nineteenth century pub. There the traditional Christmas lunch gave us the chance to extend our vocabulary through edible resources with words like “crackers”, “stuffing” and, rather surprisingly, “Yorkshire pudding”! The students however were more in awe of the palatial, Victorian toilets.

Having eaten our festive fill, we then turned our attention to Christmas stories, going to Sadlers Wells’ production of “The Snowman”, a spectacular adaptation of Raymond Briggs’ classic including a flight across a snowy stage to the strains of “Walking in the Air”, a song that has since become the class’s anthem. However, just like Christmas Day itself, all good things must come to an end and we made our way back to St Pancras and the Eurostar, where a

The 5ème Castles Trip 2010British respect and know themselves and always aim for the top.”

Meeting Tom Brake M.P.“We all had our own question to ask him, to

which he replied with great interest and truth. He told us about his daily life. He spoke clearly and made sure that we understood everything. He hadn’t seen our questions, but he had no difficulty in answering them. He is very clever.”

“This is the first time that a politician has spoken directly to me. Thanks to this meeting, I wish to become a politician.”

“He replied clearly to all our questions, for example:

“Should the British pull out of Afghanistan?”

“No, they need to stay. I wish that other European countries would make a greater contribution.”

“Should the B.N.P. (British National Party) have freedom of expression?”

“They are a legal party, so the B.B.C. had no choice but to let them speak. It is better that the public hear clearly the B.N.P’s opinions and thus judge them.”

“A comment on your time in the Lycée International ?”

“The British Section and the Lycée give an excellent education. As a result I got to know many languages and I understand many cultures. I had to work very hard and I have continued this work ethic in my present life.”

“If you had your time again, would you still choose a career in politics?”

“Very much so, it’s a pleasure and a vocation.”

Tom was also able to reveal that he had gone through last year’s ‘MPs’ expenses’ scandal (see The Daily Telegraph passim) blameless and unscathed (like many of his colleagues) and... that the next British General Election would be in the first week of May 2010!

Philip Shaw-Latimer

mince pie “goûter” concluded our taster of British yuletide. Nonetheless, like a forgotten Christmas card on a book shelf, a trace remains: the class has written a narrative text for the picture book of “The Snowman” which is currently on display in the library at PMC along with the original frames that inspired it. It may not allow us to walk on air but it provides a warming souvenir of a fun-packed day.

Michael Eccles

Welcome to Westminster2nde Accueil students and staff meet Tom Brake, MP (BS pupil 1970-80)

One British Section class and no less than five British Section staff spent a packed but very stimulating day in London on Armistice Day (11th November). The occasion was a trip by Seconde Accueil as part of their work on Politics and British Culture. Mrs Robat and Mr Jackson were the actual accompaniers of the party; but Mrs Divaret-Hepburn and Mrs Johnstone were there too as they were on Section business in London the following day – and Mr Shaw-Latimer, en route for Cambridge, was also of the party.

Mrs Robat had planned a characteristically full and fascinating programme which began with a guided visit to the Houses of Parliament, followed by a walk up Whitehall (where the group witnessed a wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph and the two minutes’ silence at 11 a.m.) - and so on to Trafalgar Square, where intriguing questions had to be answered on the identity of the statues there. A brisk return to Westminster was necessary for the meeting with Tom Brake M.P. in the Central Lobby, and on to Committee Room 5 (see photo below right).

The afternoon consisted of a visit to the Cabinet War Rooms and the adjacent Churchill Museum before the return to St Pancras and the Eurostar.

Here are some of the students’ reactions – many were visiting London for the first time:

The Cenotaph“The whole of London was silent, commemorating

the glorious dead soldiers. Many uniformed people stood with their heads bowed; all of them wore poppies - it was like a field of red flowers.”

“We heard read a poem we had studied in class, “They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old”. I wish that there would be no more wars.”

The Houses of Parliament“We saw the deep heart of British Government.

The House of Lords is impressive with the Queen’s throne covered in gold. I felt proud to have been in that key place. British patriotism is very impressive.”

“The House of Lords shows how powerful, big and elegant the British Nation is. I think that the

1514

SecondaryOut and about

3ÈME LONDON THEATRE TRIPAs we marvelled at the

glories of Lewisham by night en route to the youth hostel Roger Stephens and I were trying to remember for how many years we had been bringing 3èmes from the three collèges on this trip. No matter; it is a long time now and the trip seems to be improving over the years, like a fine wine.

Highlights of this year were, the mixing of the three school groups with new friendships made before their 2nde years, the engagement of the Group Two pupils at the drama workshop at the Globe Theatre on “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and the wonderful National Theatre production of “War Horse”: not a dry eye in the house at the finale!

Lowlights continue to be the gulf between the number of hours sleep required by the teachers and the average 15 year old and the ability of all taste to go out of the window on shopping expeditions at Camden Market. Once again a sweatshirt with ‘I love London’, with ‘love’ a heart, seemed to be the purchase of choice.

Margaret Slaiding

Take a coach load of Troisième students, three teachers and a tour guide named Dominico…

we travelled to London on the longed-for Theatre Trip after hearing so much about it from older pupils. It seems unbelievable that we packed two plays, the slightly bizarre “An Inspector Calls” and the stunning “War Horse”, trips to the Globe Theatre (including a theatre workshop), Tate Modern, Camden Town, the Imperial War Museum and the traditional fish and chip restaurant into two incredible days.

Camden Market has to be a highlight of the trip. We set off, with Ms Jones’ desperate

War HorseWar Horse follows the story of the powerful

bond between Albert Narracott and his horse Joey, acquired by his father on a whim with money meant for their mortgage. It is left to Albert to raise him, and they soon become inseparable. Yet with the outbreak of war, not only men but also horses are needed to furnish what is a glorious yet short-sighted vision of a victorious cavalry charge against the opposing firearms, driving the enemy back into Germany and being “back in time for tea”. Unbeknownst to Albert, Joey is sold to the army as an officer’s mount. Yet the boy, not yet old enough to enlist, doesn’t give up on his friend, and we watch as he embarks on a treacherous mission, combing the trenches of WWI in an attempt to bring his beloved Joey home.

One of the most impressive factors was undeniably the sheer technical feet of bringing life-size puppets to life. The behaviour and characteristics of the horse were so precisely and lovingly replicated that it really was as if two thoroughbred steeds had just galloped onto the stage. The puppeteers were not leading the horse, rather being swept along by its power and vitality, to the point where the three people necessary to guide it seem almost to become part of the horse; not just the form, but the spirit also was fully present on that stage. The heart-stopping arrival of a replica WWI tank puppet on stage manned by four puppeteers only serves to confirm the genius of Handspring Puppet Company.

This feat did not however overshadow some truly emotional performances. Robert Emms as Albert conveyed with tear-jerking poignancy the growing affection between man and horse and their untimely separation, yet where he truly excelled was as the broken, scarred Albert of the battlefield, the older, less innocent man who still clings on to one idea to the point of obsession. Patrick O’Kane as the torn German soldier also gave a masterful performance, showing how he is transformed by affection for a horse, from his position of command to being abused at the hands of his own side, at times driven almost to suicide.

The story flits from setting to another so rapidly, that to move at the speed of an audience’s imagination, instead of documentary realism, poetic imagery is used in the scenery to evoke the countryside, a French farm and a battleground at turn. The breathtaking backdrop is likened to the strip torn from Captain Nicholls’ sketchbook, and as the story progresses, rougher, hastily drawn pictures drawn whilst with the army take the place of his initial sketches of Joey. They become increasingly darker throughout, either resembling diagrams with buildings labelled as if seen through gun-sights or charcoal explosions streaked with eraser-fire.

‘An Inspector Calls’The Inspector calls…again, but this time in a

new and truly spell-binding way. To reinvent this old classic of repertory was always going to be a challenge but Daldry has certainly succeeded.

The ludicrous but prosperous Birling family is celebrating the engagement of daughter Sheila to Gerald Croft, when they are interrupted by the enigmatic Inspector Goole, who has come to confront each member of the family with their part of responsibility in a young working-class girl’s suicide. Under this almost cliché story-line, Priestley, who was a strong socialist in his time, mocks the Birlings’ social values and lack of concern for the community, thereby using the play to voice part of his beliefs.

Daldry’s choice of scenery is unexpected but truly compelling. Ian McNeil’s design is what makes this play visually unprecedented. He makes a striking contrast between a grim, bombed-out Second World War street and, perched above it, the Birlings’ doll house, full of light, laughter and life. McNeil succeeds in surprising the audience even more, when this doll-house opens up to reveal the Birlings’ dining room. By juxtaposing the early 1900’s with the Second World War period, Daldry not only uses the Blitz-bombed landscape as a temporal link between the present audience and the grotesque family, he also effectively creates a link in terms of cause and effect between the past, the present and the future. Although, the doll-house, as the centre-piece of the stage, is the predominant element, it has an unstable and ambiguous side to it. This clearly reflects the family’s polished outer-aspect and their interior struggle with guilt and with their faults; they are not as tenacious as they seem to be. It is clearly shown in the very powerful scene,

For me what really bound the performance together was the stirring music, orchestrated by Adrian Sutton, with songs written by John Tams. The melodies evoke a lost era, the simple life of the Devon countryside, which gain an aching poignancy when sung over the heat of a charge or the desolation of a battlefield. My favourite performer was unquestionably Eamonn O’Dwyer, who made his moving entry with a solo sung a cappella at the end of the first scene. He had no named part, merely billed as the ‘songman’, yet it was his anonymity as a member of the ensemble which made you think that he was no-one, yet

every young man going off to war. He reappeared frequently, sometimes playing accordeon and accompanied on the fiddle by folk musician Roger Wilson.

I personally was drawn to the imagery of a pointless struggle, a vision of soldiers unsure of what they were fighting for, yet persevering all the same. The

image of a boy clinging on to his horse, seemingly starved of human love was truly heart-rending. The liberal use of German and French also proved that the play’s message overcame any language barriers.

This production has transformed ‘War Horse’ from a children’s book to a theatrical masterpiece, aimed just as much towards adults, giving an image of the futility and aimless destruction of war which transcends any ‘sides’, an homage to the fallen, man and horse. Yet the tears I shed were not only of sadness, but also of elation, for what this play really made me feel was just the joy of being alive.

Lucy Charlier

“in a play, silence is just as effective as words”

“not just the form, but the spirit also was fully present”

in which the house topples over, mirroring thereby the family’s inner downfall and creating a powerful visual effect on the spectator.

Daldry’s excellent choice of cast also makes this play delightfully amusing to watch. Although Marianne Oldham’s acting was very good, I thought that her interpretation of Sheila as hysterically conscience-stricken was slightly excessive. Indeed, Sheila’s little girl side could have been more prominent, so that she would induce more pity from the audience. It was she, nevertheless, who held the play together, with help from her brother Eric (Robin Whiting) whose acting was exceptional. Robin Whiting’s performance was probably my favourite, especially his interpretation of the self-pitied adolescent.

David Roper is just as impressive as burly Arthur Birling, whose reputation and business are the meaning of his existence. Sandra Duncan was remarkable as the snooty, self-important Sybil Birling. Although she could have portrayed Mrs. Birling as more frivolous and volubile. I also thought Timothy Watson delivered Gerald Croft’s lines to perfection.

Finally, the two most mysterious characters of the play: the Inspector Goole and Edna.

Jeremy Spriggs’s performance of the Inspector was unexpected, bringing out the manipulative and impatient aspects of the character. His name ‘Goole’ refers to ghoul, a ghost, a spectral being. I imagined him therefore more calm, enigmatic and subtle.

Elizabeth Ross’s performance of Edna was intriguing since she is omnipresent but virtually

silent throughout the whole play. The only line she says is, however, nearly the title of the play ‘Sir, an inspector’s called’. She represents the women, like Eva Smith, who suffer at the hands of poverty and the unjust turn of society. Her presence on stage in every scene and the similarity between the names Eva and Edna, suggests that Edna is a way of embodying Eva Smith’s ghost,

haunting the Birlings and reminding them of their sins. The actors timed their pauses perfectly, delivering the lines whilst creating tension - proof that, in a play, silence is just as effective as words.

I would strongly recommend this play, but I must warn against reading the play beforehand, a large part of the enjoyment being in the suspense. The story is indeed poignant and will surprise you as no other play will, with a final twist that will leave you thunderstruck.

Mathilde Rimbaut

In addition to their trip to Westminster, the Seconde Accueil class visited the Musée des Années Trente in Boulogne-Billancourt with Diane Robat and Hilary Moser (above and banner photo).

Over to the students: James Edwards and Antoine Koen give their impressions of the trip, Lucy Charlier reviews ‘War Horse’, and Mathilde Rimbaut reviews ‘An Inspector Calls’ (which she has submitted as part of her GCSE coursework).

pleas to steer clear of the many tattoo and piercing parlours still ringing in our ears, and discovered this eccentric “town” with something new or intriguing to see everywhere you looked and more tacky souvenirs than you could point a stick at...

But the aim of the trip was social as well as cultural, for it was an opportunity to meet the other British Section sites (PMC and Hauts Grillets), who will be joining the Lycée students next year. Some were more successful than others in this enterprise, but it gave everyone the chance to meet new people.

The freedom our teachers granted us was most welcome and very pleasant, giving everyone the chance to enjoy what they chose. This was one of the many factors that made this trip so special.

James Edwards and Antoine Koen

The annual 5ème/6ème Boum will be held in the Salle Montjoie in Chambourcy from 19:30 on Thursday 15 April. The 4ème Boum with live music for the 4ème students will take place at 20.00 on Friday 14 May at Ludimax, Villepreux. The joint BS/US 3ème Prom will be from 20.00 on Saturday 8 May at the Holiday Inn, Bougival. What to wear!

More details in the next BSPTG Newsletter or contact your Contact Parent.

17

New Season, New sponsors

16

More than business as usual

British Section Parent Teacher Group

100 players are now signed up to play football for British Section teams. That is a record number, and all three age groups are proud wearers of new kit this season, sponsored by local companies. In this issue we focus on the Petits and Moyens squads; next issue we will hear from the Grands..

British Section football for the Petits has taken on a new dimension this season. With over 30 children regularly turning up for training on Saturday mornings, we decided to run two teams in the inter-section league – Lions (7èmes) and Bulldogs

(8èmes) – and a third team, the Fantastic Foxes (9èmes and 10èmes) that plays friendly matches against other ‘mini-poussin’ teams.

The BSPTG’s Fundraising Committee stepped in to buy new shirts so that each team could have its own identity: for Lions a red shirt with white trim and logo printed on the front; for the Bulldogs a white shirt with red trim and logo; and for the Foxes last season’s kit with a newly printed logo. In a pre-match ceremony on a cold Sunday morning in December, the new kit was unveiled and it was explained to the players that the funding for the new kit had come from money raised by British

Section parents. Each of the players then lined up to shake hands with Anne Aubry, Chair of the BSPTG Fundraising Committee.

Business as usual? Not quite! As you can see BSPTG members have been

particularly busy since November with new sponsors and kit for all the BS football teams, the Christmas Fête, Christmas Carol Service, start of cricket training, New Year’s lunches at Le Pecq and… the launch of the BSPTG Newsletter. My thanks go to the former Communications coordinator, Debby Russell, for the idea, and to Nicola Bullough, current Communications coordinator for the professional layout of the Newsletter – did you notice the live hotlinks that we added for your convenience! The Newsletter is a one-page update on key dates and events in the British Section and in the wider community. It is available for download on the Community pages of the BS website and will be sent out via email in .pdf format. If you would like an event to be included, please contact me at: sylviehdupuis@aol.comSylvie Dupuis, Chair

Then the matches kicked off and the new kit proved to be inspirational with Lions devouring Italy/Portugal 9-0 and Bulldogs barking their way to their first victory of the season 4-3 against USA. With 6 of the 10 league matches now completed, it is clear that three teams, including the Lions, will be battling to finish top of the league. The remaining 3 teams, including the younger Bulldogs, are in close contention for the last qualification place (only the top 4 teams in the league qualify) for the Tournoi des Etoiles. If the Bulldogs get a bit more luck to go with their “dogged” determination and great team spirit, then the British Section should have two teams in the finals of the Tournoi des Etoiles this year.

Head coach Dave Turner said “Thanks very much to everyone that helped out to provide funding for the teams – it really makes a difference and helps develop the kids’ self-confidence and teamwork. If you want to see the kind of absolute, pure joy that this can bring, look at the goal celebration from the Lions vs Bulldogs match in the inter-section tournament. This really is what it’s all about!”

‘Petits’ coaches:Dave Turner, Rob Steggles, Stéphane Baudena, Andrew Hodder, Quentin Slight

New Kit Inspires Lions, Bulldogs and Foxes to Victory The MoyensThe British Section Moyens started the new

season full of enthusiasm, with 28 players, 3 coaches and a new sponsor.

Despite being below the magic figure of 30 players, we decided to create two teams to ensure that all players get to play every week. With the cold weather and the flu epidemic, we have had weekends when only just enough players were able to turn out. So far it has worked well thanks to the flexibility and commitment of all the parents, who are helping by responding quickly to the weekly e-mails to confirm their child’s availability.

Maurice Paillet, owner of the real estate agency “La Terrasse” in Le Vésinet, was very excited at the prospect of becoming the new sponsor of the Moyens teams. He is a football fan and is very happy to be associated with the LI competition. As you can see in the photo, the staff at the agency are joining in and supporting our teams by proudly wearing the new British Section Moyens shirts.

With only four 4ème students in the squad, our two teams are doing really well so far this season, and the future is bright for next year too – with fifteen 5ème and nine 6ème students. The GB team is looking strong and is currently second in the league, while the RU (Royaume Uni) team has performed well, steadily collecting points including a fine draw against the current leaders.

Coaches: Jean-Jacques Vironda, Salvatore Morando and Stephen Bullough

Every year just before Christmas, the British Section links school to Church with the traditional Nine Lessons and Carols service held at Holy Trinity Church in Maisons-Laffitte.

This year over 70 BS students and teachers celebrated Christmas with well-known Bible readings, and the Primary choir led the congregation in the singing of traditional Christmas carols. Mulled wine and mince pies were served after the service so that all could share in the wonder, joy and festivity of Christmas.

Katherine Potter, 6ème LI Contact Parent

How many other F words could we find to describe this formidable fête?

First is a good one as it was a first for us. Françoise, Anne and Sarah, who represented the British Section so well the previous two years, were a tough act to follow. Their very efficient hand over and advice served us well in the run up to the fête.

Fantastic Brit ish Section parents who coordinated workshops for each of the stands from the shopping in October to the making, baking and decoration in November, which resulted in the smooth running of the stands on the day. The behind the scenes activity is not always obvious to the rest of us, but they are without a doubt the unsung heroes.

Fun and a sense of camaraderie in the various workshops were evident regardless of whether or not people knew each other. It is a great place to meet other parents, partake in some tea and biscuits and talk about anything and everything. We even have reports that on a couple of occasions a glass of something stronger was enjoyed!

The last (F) word is actually two words – a huge Thank You to one and all! You raised 8 191€ ! In addition, Club International will be donating 1000€ to each Section to be spent on books across the three BS sites.

Dominique Matthews, Martine Lissowski and Vicky RushworthBS Club International Reps

Above, the Moyens football team, below, Super sponsors! the staff at La Terrasse

Estate Agency in Le Vésinet

Top, the Foxes, left, the Bulldogs, and right the Lions

BS parents from the Collège Pierre et Marie Curie presented their best wishes to all staff in the presence of Mr Philip Shaw-Latimer and the town Sénateur-Maire, Mr Gournac at the now well-established annual buffet lunch in January (see photo): a great success and a good start to 2010 thanks to the organisation and cooking skills of the parents!

Similar events were held at the Felix Eboué Primary School, and the Ecole Maternelle Jehan Alain. Many thanks to all who contributed, shopped, carried, baked, chopped, mixed, set up, washed up… The result was well worth it!

Friendly, Furious, Frantic, Fabulous, Fun at the Fête de Noël

Boums !

ForumsThe next Primary Forum will be on Wednesday 12th May in the Amphitheatre and as Chair I would like to be sure to invite all families with children in Maternelle! In fact we should really rename the Forum “The Primary and Maternelle Forum” as it is for you all. So please come along!!

Sarah Finet (Chair, Primary Forum)

Please put the date of the next Secondary Forum in your diaries! It will be held in the Amphitheatre on Tuesday 23rd March, on ICT in the Secondary classroom.

Madeleine Hepworth (Chair, Secondary Forum)

Anyone for Cricket?The cricket club is opening its doors to

collège students as well as to those in primary for students on all BS sites.

From 9th April, training will be on Fridays at Les Loges, St Germain en Laye, (next to the all-weather hockey pitch in the far left hand corner of the site) from 17.00 to 18.00 for primary students and from 18.00 to 19.00 for collège students.

Our aim is to introduce students to batting, bowling and fielding and to show them how each of these can be used both to attack and defend during a game. We are hoping to organize some fixtures this year so that the students can try out their skill on the field of play.

Cricket is being organised by Oliver Ash (primary) and Jeremy Munday (collège). Any offers of help, equipment, ideas or even encouragement would be welcome. We hope to see lots of new cricketers over the coming weeks.

Jeremy Munday (06 03 57 79 74) aparisien2000@yahoo.co.uk

Oliver Ash (06 22 28 66 82) oash@richmond-dev.com

1918

Hamlet

On stage

This year’s senior drama production, ‘Hamlet’ by William Shakespeare,

was an overwhelming success. Directed by Claire Lewis and staged on February 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th, the play – an OIB text – filled the Amphitheatre for each performance and drew students from other schools in the OIB network, including groups from Sèvres and La Baule in Brittany. The complex and evolving role of Hamlet was divided between three actors, Daniel Hadley, Matthew Motte and Hugo Macklin, who describe their parts below. The whole play review is by Naomi Fenwick.

My ultimate play...S ince Mrs Divaret introduced me to the

wonderful world of theatre some 11 years ago, I have participated in a school play every year. Each production that went by was more relishable than the previous one. Having built up towards this for almost a decade, I am more than delighted to have been able to end my school theatre “career” with such a marvellous production… Hamlet.

‘Hamlet’ was my ultimate (in both senses of the word) school play and many tears were shed when we arrived at the end (as befits Hamletian actors, the tears were Tragical-Comical and just a tiny bit pastoral). Playing the role of Hamlet was extremely challenging and would probably not have been possible without the role being divided into three parts. This division did not only help reduce the amount of lines each Hamlet had to learn, but it also added a dramatic element to the play. Each part of Hamlet represented a different phase of his character and the evolution of his mood and feelings.

I played the first Hamlet – the rebellious teenager who is still mourning the death of his father. What was particularly thought-provoking was having to assume and represent the feelings of a person whose mother married his uncle a mere

Bringing together remorse, passion and anger

The prospect of taking part in a production of ‘Hamlet’ was hugely exciting from the outset, and even more so was acting the role of the Prince of Denmark himself. Given the size of the part and the business of Lycée life, splitting the line-learning three ways seemed very sensible, but the division has in fact a deeper meaning as well, namely to illustrate the evolutions which this complex and fascinating character lives through. As the final third, I understood my Hamlet to be more determined than the previous two, and although not bloodthirsty, at least prepared to kill those who stood between him and his revenge. He is a character who brings together genuine remorse, passion and anger – although there is also an occasional cruel streak to him – but combines these with wit and intelligence, which lends the otherwise overwhelmingly tragic play a touch of humour. The love/hate relationship with his mother is a central element of this “third” Hamlet, as are his reflections on destiny: to what extent does he control his own fate, or is he entirely subject to the “divinity which shapes our ends”?

The scale of the production did seem daunting indeed, and even up to the final week I wondered whether this was too ambitious a play to stage at school. But such doubts failed to take into account the vision and determination of the director, and also the huge motivation, energy and talent of the entire cast. The atmosphere backstage was truly wonderful, and by performance-week a real sense of solidarity was shared between all of us. Acting with such great people can only be enjoyable, and it really felt like we all came together as a team, with everyone contributing to the success of the play.

Hugo Macklin

A driving sense of dramatic tension

An eerie silence fell over the audience as four masked figures silently appeared on stage, followed by the three black clad actors sharing the role of Hamlet, thus immediately setting the tone for a brilliantly gloomy production of ‘Hamlet’. Black and white projected images of castle battlements and ruins transported us to Elsinore, whilst the set, in various shades of black and grey interrupted by razor sharp lines and angles and a towering Picasso-style portrait, confirmed that indeed “something is rotten in the state of Denmark”.

This striking first impression was confirmed by the commanding stage presence of the cast, the remarkable variety of emotions portrayed and the driving sense of dramatic tension. The three actors playing Hamlet each brought a uniquely insightful facet to a particularly complex character, including moral seriousness, quicksilver humour and a strong physicality, thus reflecting the tortured internal landscape Hamlet travels through. The audience was particularly moved by Ophelia’s tragic portrayal of her terrifying descent into insanity, witnessed by Laertes whose pain and desperate thirst for revenge were palpable. Fleeting looks of anger betrayed Claudius’s cunningly disguised brutality whilst his queen generally adopted a composed demeanour which highlighted the ambiguity over her own personal involvment in her late husband’s murder. The ghost, his booming voice amplified by a mike, appeared almost ephemeral, yet strong and powerful. Polonius, Guildenstern and Rosencrantz were faithfully portrayed as naive and quite foolish yet eagerly ready to plot and connive, whilst the gravediggers, player king and player queen successfully brought comic relief to the emotionally charged atmosphere of this production.

The actors confidently delivered their lines without ever faltering and gave exceptional depth to the characters, both individually and as a group. Many students remarked on the cast’s clear diction and expressive tone which brought meaning to a difficult text. Furthermore, several members of the audience were quite shaken by Hamlet’s fierce outburst against his mother during the closet scene. Others held their breaths as Ophelia sadly handed out imaginary flowers to a bewildered Laertes before Gertrude’s beautifully spoken soliloquy marked her untimely death. Laughter fused as the player king delivered an impassioned rendition of Pyrrhus’s demise and at the gravedigger’s carelessness. The cast delivered an outstanding production of Hamlet, exceptionally well directed by Mrs. Lewis: judging by the audience’s thunderous applause it was a unanimous success.

Naomi Fenwick

month after his father died. And then discovering from his father’s spirit that it was his uncle who killed him (almost unimaginable in today’s society! Thank goodness!). Thus playing only one third of Hamlet helped me focus on expressing his true feelings and I didn’t need to work on conveying his madness nor revengeful rage.

What made participating in Hamlet even more gratifying was working with such a huge range of dedicated individuals and skilled actors (over 50 in total) who worked in a team to make every moment on stage, and off, exciting and enthralling. This production was the end for some and the beginning of a career for others, but none of this would have been possible without the will and determination of such an inspiring director, Claire Lewis.

Daniel Hadley

I was to be mad HamletWhen I heard Hamlet was going to be put on,

I was interested; and when I heard Mrs. Lewis was the director, I was decided: I wanted to be Hamlet. However I did make it very clear to Mrs. Lewis that I would never be able to cope with all the lines and was relieved to hear of the part’s division; and after an audition and a few days of patience, the verdict had fallen: I was to be mad Hamlet. Some could see this as an insult but I was flattered and excited to incorporate his complex, ambiguous, twisted side. To be able to act out all of his contradictory feelings professionally and surprising the audience with every line is a difficult yet beautiful challenge that any ambitious actor would be willing to take. None are left indifferent after their own performance of Shakespeare’s famous soliloquy “To be or not to be”, the indecision in Hamlet’s mind whether to end his life or live with his grief is most challenging as one must adopt a suicidal psychology and discourse a powerful aura illustrating his madness, and this throughout the rest of the play also.

Matthew Motte

20

Student

21

Let’s keep going!

Well hello fellow students! Happy (belated)

New Year to you all and welcome back after the first term, to Student Shout! Hope you’ve all made some fabulous resolutions and plan to keep to them, because, well, I haven’t! Here, I present a little encouragement to Secondes, for, as the year goes on the student spirits seem to be gradually deteriorating after what started off as an enthused and motivated beginning! Come on guys, pick up your feet and let’s keep going! A hint of poetry presents the dear Yearbook, a project in progress to honour not only the Terminales but also Premières and Secondes, so yes guys, exciting news, ‘hooray’! Also, I’m sure many of you have heard of the new James Cameron “chef- d’oeuvre” Avatar; here Sophie Mead gives her opinion of this recent film, which has received so much gossip. Then finally, as promised in the previous edition, we have the new student council logo!

See you in May for a Fiona and Catherine edition. Have a good (end of) second term.

Catherine Russell

Don’t forget, if anyone wishes to send pictures, articles, ideas you believe should be mentioned in the next edition, just give us a shout, send them to:Fiona at fifofum12@hotmail.com or Catherine at cajoruss@hotmail.com

Welcome to the Lycée...For Seconde students, the year began with

Initiation Day, the day where all the different students in the British section from various sites join to be introduced. First of all, a belated thanks to all the teachers who organized this day which began friendships and prepared the students for the year to come. We were warned that the year would be challenging, but none were expecting the contrast to our last year of college and students adjusted differently, especially as so many had to adjust to a completely new system!

Since September, I have witnessed, helped with or been through so many highs and ‘sink right to the bottom’ lows. It is pretty surprising that fear, loss, excitement, bereavement... can affect so many students, with such extreme emotion in such a short time. Whether in mass and intense, or small amounts, this feeling seems to be going around, (a bit like the grippe A)! Some feel the impact with more voluminous consequences but everyone appears to be getting their fair share in whatever shape and form. One might ask why. The answer is it’s an accumulation of feelings, confusion, overwhelming events, hormones (!), competition, jealousy, stress...

Some of these problems could originate from feeling lost and confused by what we want to do when we leave school, perhaps a lack of determination and motivation, and a general low desire to work!!! Ever wake up in the morning thinking what the hell is the point? Why should I go to school? We all have dreams and future aspirations when we’re young. However not many of us hold on to them. It is said, that when we are young, we should be full of life and motivation with bounds of energy, but as we get older and start to face what seem like mammoth size obstacles, we can’t find ways to overcome them, and it seems this free energy can fade away as fast as it appeared.

...Don’t feel too sorry for yourselves people, you’re not alone!

There is no real answer to all this, but to try and overcome it, because some way or another you’ll move on. What do we want out of our lives though guys? What do we wish to achieve exactly? I don’t know, but try this, think about it and write down everything that comes to your head. Sometimes people think right, ok, this month I am going to sort my room out, or maybe go on a diet, or improve my biceps, or reach for the stars... most of the time we don’t go through with it. You need to WRITE things down! Give yourself goals, missions or whatever you want to call it, everyone has them but not everyone achieves them; why not be more determined than most people?! Just write these things down, post them in big on your wall, by your bed, by your

At the beginning of this year, Harry Clementson and Daniel Hadley, former British Section School Council (BSSC) presidents sent out a request for student council logos! Various options were received (see below) and before I go any further, the Student Council would like to thank those who took the time to send their ideas!

The winning logo chosen to represent the British Section Student Council, is Benjy Hollis’ simple, clear and arty design...

Congratulations !

The Tale of the Yearbook At the end of every year,Students like a souvenir.But up till now, no plans in sight;No hope to think we ever mightHave a Yearbook.

For weeks we could do nought but pray,We toiled all night and slaved all day.Lack of students we had not,But volunteers would help a lot, To make the Yearbook.

The British Section Student Council,Was just the thing to light the candle:Inspiring students high and low, To contribute the things they know,To the Yearbook.

Assembling great events and thoughts,Of maths and language, art and sports,Photos scattered here and there, Our friends remembered everywhere,In the Yearbook.

Written by Emily Pike and Beatrice Langford Powell

Entertainment!As you probably all know, last month, James

Cameron’s latest film ‘Avatar’ was released and

has known a great success throughout the world.

This 3D movie tells the story of the invasion

of humans on the

planet ‘Pandora’, in

order to chase its

habitants to exploit

the mines of precious

stone beneath the

kingdom.

A few days after

its release, I went

to see it; I found

that the storyline

was quite simple,

pred ic tab le , and

sounded quite similar to other previous films.

However, the scenery was magnificent and the

image quality impressive: throughout the whole

film, I was transported into another dimension,

living the gripping adventure and the beautiful love

story between Neytiri and Jake Sully. I believe

that this film also carries a message, concerning

nature and pollution: the humans have already

destroyed their ‘mother nature’, where as the

Na’vi kingdom is fighting to preserve theirs.

Therefore, I recommend this film to everyone

– adults as well as children – for it is an excellent,

moving and enjoyable movie.

Sophie Mead

Here is an article by Lucie Long who transferred to the Lycée from Collège des Hauts Grillets, describing her experience from the beginning of the year to the end of the 1st term:

“That first day at the Lycée was, I have to admit, absolutely terrifying! The Lycée represented a brand new start and I wanted to make the most of it from the beginning. Of course, it was exactly like the first day in any other class; I was anxious to meet my teachers, shy of my classmates, but on top of that, I was completely lost and unable to get anywhere by myself as a result to the spread out campus and different buildings. Now I have to say that I have settled in really well; I adore the general atmosphere, with people of all ages rushing around, such a variety of languages, and of course being reunited with all my primary friends! Having all been spread across the various sites, it was such a pleasure to be brought together again. The Lycée may be big and imposing but it is an extremely friendly school which enabled me to make many friends, all from different cultures. However I have learnt over the last few months that teachers focus more on the class in general rather than focusing on individuals as they did in collège; this may be the case for all schools, but it was one of the things I have had to get used to. This of course means that we must provide more effort and more work (that horrible, horrible word) independently. It was the latter, the dreaded 8 o’clock start and that killer of a hill all over the campus that have been the main disadvantages for me at the Lycée. However, what I did really appreciate on first arriving in the Lycée International, was the freedom we are given as Lycée students, able to come and go as we please, access to our own grounds in the top half... So future Secondes, enjoy the easy times you today seem to think are so hard and look forward to fun (cough) and piles of work! The Lycée is the place to show what you are capable of, so hold your head up high and show those teachers your true potential.”

Lucie Long

mirror; where ever. The point of this is to remind yourself of them every day, and every day, you do something towards it. There you go your motivation and your point to get up in the morning. By believing in yourself, you can do anything. The affirmed knowledge of what one wants to do with their life, comes to us all at different times so really don’t worry if your friends have planned their exact future and you haven’t, everyone is different and your destiny will come to you. Let’s not be afraid of reaching for what we want, of taking the leap and then seeing what happens, seeing what is out there, finding our identity, following our hearts and believing in ourselves!!

Another point; I know so many teachers have told you to make a plan, revise your lessons, work gradually and most of us just shrug it off. News flash guys! It does work, seriously you begin to enjoy the subjects, understanding comes naturally and everything makes sense. Then, when one of your teachers announces a test; you know that stress we all feel, that knot that suddenly appears as you realize how much work is ahead of you? Well, guess what; it disappears, because YOU ARE READY for the dreaded control.

We have one life but the choices in it are ours. We shouldn’t put aside our dreams and then regret it later. No one is standing in our way and the path, is ours to take...

I shall be telling this with a sigh,

somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -

I took the one less travelled by,

and that has made all the difference.

By Robert Frost

brit ish section

New Logo for the Student Council Here are a couple of other great designs that were sent in :

“Anyone who lives within their

means suffers from a lack of

imagination.”- Oscar Wilde.“We are all in the gutter, but

some of us are looking at the

stars”- Oscar Wilde

Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts” Winston Churchill.

“High expectations are the key to everything.” Sam Walton

“Dreams are like the paints of a great artist. Your

dreams are your paints; the world is your canvas.

Believing, is the brush that converts your dreams

into the masterpiece of reality”

22 23

“...time to look back and tell my own story”

Alumnae

What? Where? How?

Etudes et Métiers

Alec Dent, former student in the British Section, who passed the

OIB in 2002, tells his story of the past seven years. Lack of space prevents us from printing the full version here, so please go to the Insites page (under the menu Community) of our website to read on to the end…

The new year is synonymous with many things, but to most of you readers, the main concern is preparing for that decisive and unpleasant exam, looming closer every day. 2010 marks a new beginning for me too, although I left the school several years ago. And knowing that many of you are still facing several miserable months of parental pressure, university applications, exams, and ultimately, fear of the Unknown, I decided it was time to look back and tell my own story. This is not meant to be a lecture in what to do and not to do, (you have enough teachers and parents for that), but some of you might like to hear about how things work out in real life to an ex-Terminale, 7 years after the remise des diplômes…

I was an average Terminale ES student, who enjoyed history, economics and German, but who struggled with Shakespeare, Plato and the obscure Greek symbols on my calculator, and had no idea about what to do after the Bac. I had thought of taking a gap year, but had no real project in mind and feared that a year away from books would make it that much harder to get back into them. I had heard the horror stories of life (or lack thereof) in Prépa, had no interest in eternal stages en entreprise, and knew that I was not interested in becoming a French student. I wanted more from further education than what I felt the French university system could offer, and had decided early on that the British-Irish campus lifestyle was far more appealing.

Through many discussions with teachers, friends and family, and with no clear idea of what I wanted, I decided to stick with my best subjects. I then decided that although I found History fascinating, a business degree would be more versatile and relevant to the job market (which is, let’s face it, the main reason why I was going to university in the first place).

This was the thought process which led me to apply to a number of courses in both Ireland and the UK, and was finally offered ‘International Business and German’ in Warwick and ‘Business Studies and German’ in Trinity College Dublin.

Chronicles of a Graduate I eventually chose Dublin over Warwick -

both are good universities, both courses were very similar and required an Erasmus year in a German-speaking country, but what tipped it for me was one of national identity - a parameter of student welfare which I have often felt has been overlooked by other students and misunderstood by proud and eager parents. Although I had lived my whole life in France, I was closer to my Irish relatives and felt that I would integrate more with Irish students than I would in a British environment.

My first shock as an unsure 17-year-old First Year was that I was streaks ahead; by Christmas I had obtained top grades with minimal effort in Maths (whereas I had struggled to get 10 in the Bac), Economics, German and History - and expected the rest of the course to be boring, which it was, and easy, which it wasn’t.

In fact, despite my excellent results in First Year, I ended up repeating 2 exams in my second year, because I was slow to realise that university has a lot to do with self-motivation and self-discipline. (Hint: Lectures are absolutely worthless unless you prepare for them beforehand, pay attention during, and do

the required reading afterwards. Strolling in late and pretending to listen whilst doing the Sudoku in the student paper looks cool, but won’t get you through exams. And lecture notes are much harder to decipher by yourself in the library in August two weeks before your Statistical Analysis repeat exam. Trust me.)

Having finally passed Statistics, I was free to go on Erasmus - and ended up in Mannheim University - the most prestigious Business School in Germany. (This was not my first choice - I was keen on Innsbruck in Austria, which is close to an awesome ski resort and offers huge student discounts on ski passes, but everybody else wanted to ski too and my marks weren’t good enough to beat the competition - despite my early head start in First Year).

Germany was a swift learning curve. I suddenly realised that I wasn’t quite so fluent as I thought I was, but that there was no point in being shy and speaking English all t h e t ime . I a l s o struggled because of my age - I was 19, attending the same lectures as 3rd Year German Students , who were, owing to longer schooling and

compulsory military service, an average of four years older than I was. But I grew up in many ways during that year. I managed to pass the required number of credits, did the lighting for a German theatre group, went on week-end trips here, there and everywhere, found a part-time job in a multi-lingual Telemarketing company, feasted on cheap kebabs and became somewhat of a beer connoisseur. By the end of the year though, I had passed the ultimate language tests; I could argue with taxi drivers, understand the news on the radio and even file a Police report after I was mugged in the Turkish district. But that’s another story.

.....continued on website (http://www.lycee-international.net/Insites.html)

Below, Alec, centre, with colleagues during an Aviation Industry Seminar

Alec Dent posing in an Airbus engine

Alec Dent as a tour guide in Paris

(right) and in Venice (below)

In January, students - present and past - teachers and parents breathed life

into the first Forum des Etudes et Métiers. BS Parent Governors and APELI committee members, Philippe de Chabert and Sylvie Dupuis, were there to help and compiled this report for students, from all sections, in the lycée cycle to think about what they will do after the OIB...

What should I study after the OIB? What might I want to do as a career? What’s best for me?

All students, starting sometimes quite early in Seconde when electing what BAC s t ream (S,ES,L) to study in 1ére and Terminale, will ask themselves these important and relevant

questions! They can be turning points in life, so it’s crucial to have the best information and advice when reflecting on the various options available when making these determinant choices.

So, what information did the Forum supply and how was it organized?

First of all, FORUM 2010, was the first time that APELI - the organizer of this ambitious exercise so ably led by volunteers Lus Knops, Pierre Lowy and their team - combined Etudes and Métiers, seemingly a natural and logical fit: what studies? where? leading to what professions?

The Forum offered 30 Round Tables, covering 25 various themes, led by 19 moderators and involving 150 invited participants (former LI Students now in post-OIB studies, and parents of current students), who described their study paths and professions to almost 1000 students today in Terminale, 1ère, and 2nde. What an opportunity to gain firsthand experience and valuable information on these crucial questions! Nick Baker and James Cathcart, the British Section Universities Counseling team attracted a lot of interest at their Round Table on studying in the UK.

Former students from the majority of national sections – including eight British Section alumnae - generously gave their time to share their experiences. And what impressions did students, former students and parents take away from this year’s forum?

Antoine Rodriguez, Tle S (Spanish section): “I found the combination of Etudes & Métiers very useful, as they are so linked together. It allowed me to progress in my reflection, and there were so many participants that I was able to talk to several who offered more precision on the various streams available to me.”

Isabelle de Chabert, Tle ES (British section): “This forum was particularly helpful to me in that I was able to ask specific questions to several participants, both former Lycée students and parents, about the further study and career path that I’m hoping to follow and their answers proved to me that they were interested in me, and willing to put themselves in my place to provide good sound advice!”

Ben Studer, former BS student OIB (Tle in 2008/9):

“I study a subject that is rather different from your general sciences, literature, and economics. Media Production is such a specific subject that it’s hard to find help to know where to go. Only a few people can really help you out; and it’s a matter of luck if you know them or not. This is where the Forum des Métiers helped me out two years ago. It gave me a personal contact with someone from the industry, who was able to help me make up mind”

Xavier Durand-Delacre, parent representing Polytechnique and Classes Préparatoires: “A large student turnout, with appropriate questions, indicating an in-depth reflection on studies and careers from Terminale students; a little less so from 1ère students, and questions of a general nature from 2nde students, as would be expected.”

Deidre Lowe, parent and Interpreter: “Attending a Round Table discussion in the Chateau with my translator counterpart, Sylvie Collin, brought us face to face with a dozen students from different Sections where we got a real exchange going about the difference between the two professions and answered some very pertinent questions – “Which language should I learn next if I want to be an interpreter?”, “I understand, let’s say, German, better than I speak, is that a problem?”

Interpreting is a post-graduate course and can follow ANY under-graduate course. For our children, who are bilingual if not trilingual at an early age, linguistic skills are acquis. Language tuition is being cut dramatically in English schools and universities creating a dearth of linguists in an age of multinationalism and multilingualism. Those recruiting interpreters are seeing fewer candidates coming forward. At the European institutions, there is a real drive towards recruitment because of the increased need with 27 member states and at a time when the first generation of EU interpreters is reaching retirement age.

Elizabeth Nolan, former governor and parent who kindly organised the buffet and refreshments: “An exceptional event! It took me back to when I was a member of the BS Committee and it fell to me to organize the cocktails. I was also asked to convince my son, Sean, to take part as a “1st year student abroad” which proved to be quite easy as he was delighted to have the opportunity, and a legitimate pretext, to revisit his old haunting grounds. The Forum also provided him with the chance to greet his former teachers and he enjoyed sharing his experience of starting at a British university and adjusting to a different culture with younger students.

On the way home, as an epilogue to the long day of many conversations, Sean reflected that talking to the other students made him realize how happy he was in the choice he had made and how important it was to discuss and share your ideas with other people”.

Attendance at the Round Tables:

• Engineering: what studies? (88)

• Political Science: how to be well prepared (79)

• Studying in UK (75)

• Classes Préparatoires (65)

• Studying in USA & Canada (65)

• Studying Law (70)

• Various options in France (55)

• Art (55)

• Management & Marketing (55)

• Architecture (54)

• Medical & Paramedical studies (52)

• Business (50)

• Studying in Germany (35)

• Studying in Spain (31)

• How to consider various orientations? (31)

• Communication & Journalism (30)

• Gap year and after (23)

• Research: what studies? (15)

• A ‘double curriculum’: a plus? (11)

Lus Knops and Pierre Lowy

In picturesPlease send in photos of British Section activities and events for our photoboard. Send to:macklin.debbie@noos.fr

Incomparable!

Glaces, confiseries, chocolats18 rue de la Salle – 78100 Saint Germain-en-Layewww.amorino.fr

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Above, Father Christmas visiting the Maternelles and right, scenes from the Fête de Noël

Above, Primary children singing Carols at a service held at the Holy Trinity Church in Maisons-Laffitte before Christmas