Photos available on Fronter!

Pupils have passwords to access our Virtuual Leaning Environment: Fronter.

Mr Tunmore has created a spcial room to house the photos staff took during the week.

Please log in to view and download them and let us know if you have any special ones you would like to add to the collection.



La rentrée!

Yesterday was such a busy day and evening that there read no time to blog but we want you to know that we have enjoyed ourselves and we are now on our way home.  We will add links  text and audio to this blog when we return.  A bientôt! :-)

Mercredi 11 juin

Coach B

Happy birthday Maddie!

 

 

Another busy day!
Early start.
First stop Bayeux, approaching via the Eisenhower memorial, we observed the incredible detail of the Bayeux tapestry whilst listening to an audio guide, then wandered into the town where each pupil (and teacher) asked for an ice cream in impeccable French.(Seriously, there were some lovely accents!)
Time to relax and consume whilst others shopped in the street market buying a wide variety of souvenirs.
Off to Arromanches for lunch on the cliff tops and a visit to the 360 degree cinema to view the story of '100 jours de la Bataille de Normandie'.  A very moving film …, it was noticeable that as it ended, every single person was silent and moved out in a silent reflective mood.
A group photo (starring Graham, our much loved driver) and then a drive dropping down from the cliff tops of Arromanches to Gold Beach to Asnelles where we mixed science with French, learning about oyster production.  Your son/daughter will be able to brief you in full about this and after their tasting, will be asking you to buy them for tea.  They have been the main subject of conversation amongst the staff ever since.
Afterwards, afternoon tea at the top of the cliffs at Longues sur Mer - a gun battery taken by the Devonshire Regiment on 7^th June.  The detail of the rifling was still intact.
All back for dinner followed by a beautiful birthday cake in honour of Maddy's birthday.
 

Coach C Report

Started off at Trouville.. the pupils bought us our picnics by speaking French with the vendors.  We ate our picnics on the beach - played splat on the beach, hosted by Mr Tunmore.  Then on to Pegasus Bridge where we ordered our drinks from Madame Gondrée in the café which was the first house liberated in France.  A Veteran spoke to one of our students about his experiences, and then agreed to pose with the whole group.

Then to the museum for a tour and a film introduced by Prince Charles.  Then on to Ranville cemetery where we found the grave of the parachutist who was buried with his dog, both of whom died on 6^th June.  Looked at the differences between the graves of the Belgian and German graves, and placed stones on the Jewish graves.  All finished with another game in the park mixing with local French children.

 

Nous sommes arrivés!

We have all arrived safely in France and the Study Visit is going well on all three coaches.

Here are a few of our impressions so far:

• The spirit of commemoration is everywhere - tourists, veterans, flags, military vehicles, wreaths, beautiful, lavish arrangements - making this very special. Veterans joined us in the presentation at Pegasus Bridge
• Well situated accommodation - right by the beach
• We were so impressed with the amount of French the pupils used after community repetition of phrases in the coach
• A highlight for some was the chance to meet with Monsieur le Maire of Merville - many more detials - keep an eye out for the articvle in Accent and the National press
• Our evening dinner bread was prepared by coach C at the 'Co-pain' organic bakery

The weather was perfect for unwinding on the beach this eveing .. football, rugby, boules, Harry Potter games .. a lot of laughter everywhere.

The programme is packed, but we will try to blog to you each evening, connection permitting!
Bonne nuit!

 

 

Débarquement : revivez la journée de commémoration du D-Day

This is such a special year to be visiting Normandy.  It is highly likely that we will meet veterans at the D Day sites during our stay in Normandy, and we hope that we may be able to talk with them.

The radio station RTL has produced a simple pictorial chronology of the events of the 70th commemoration on 6th June 2014 here:

Voici la plaquette officielle du #DDay distibuée à la presse:

 "Les jeunes générations doivent se souvenir qu'ici, 2 millions de soldats s'affronteront au milieu d'un million de civils", a déclaré François Hollande.

Thanks to Julian Whiting for sharing this site - a place to commemorate individuals who died in Normandy.

Escapade en Normandie - de très belles images sur Internet

La Normandie est très belle..... Paysages de cartes postales, monuments historiques, plages immaculées...

Regardez ce site pour une promenade dans ce petit coin charmant de la France. En images

La batterie de Merville

We are staying in a village which was very important to the D-Day strategy. 
See the site which gives information and pictures about La Batterie à Merville.
  
How much of this text can you understand?

La batterie de Merville c'était déjà :

• La seule portion du mur de l’Atlantique à avoir été visitée à trois reprises (6 mars, 6 mai et 27 mai 1944) par Rommel au cours du trimestre précédent le débarquement.
• Une forteresse dont la neutralisation immédiate a été fixée comme objectif vital et prioritaire du Jour J par le Haut commandement des forces alliées.
• Le bombardement le plus intense (plus de 1.000 bombes larguées par 109 Lancaster) de la nuit précédent le débarquement.
• Un plan de neutralisation complexe, une unité d’élite, un entraînement exceptionnel, une incroyable malchance, une épopée victorieuse mais tragique.
• L’inimaginable assaut au terme duquel la batterie est neutralisée par le 9ème bataillon des parachutistes Britanniques fort au départ de 700 hommes mais dont ne subsiste après les mauvais largages et les combats que l’effectif d’une compagnie.
• Un lieu de mémoire sur près de 10 hectares acquis par le Conservatoire du littoral, classé monument historique et géré conjointement par les Britanniques et les Français.