This year has marked the very first pen pal exchange for our LVI (Year 12) and UVI (Year13) French students with the Lycée Ihi-Tea No Vavau in Bora Bora, French Polynesia. The girls have had the opportunity to exchange letters with students who are learning English and are preparing their baccalaureate. This has been a great experience for them to practise the language as well as develop their cultural understanding of the French speaking world.
The girls have loved learning about Polynesian culture, and even watched a video of their pen pals dancing and singing during the Heiva Taure’a in Tahiti: a festival which celebrates their customs and traditions. Our current LVI are excited to continue writing to their pen pals next year, and the French Department is looking forward to continuing the exchange with Ms. Lehartel and the Lycée Ihi-Tea No Vavau.
“The pen pal exchange was a brilliant experience. In previous years, we had a pen pal exchange with a school in France, and so this exchange with Bora Bora has allowed us to really broaden our understanding of the different cultures and lifestyles of Francophone countries; it has been a really enriching experience.” Saskia (Year 12)
“I was able to learn so much about a completely new culture; writing letters to my pen pal encouraged me to broaden my awareness of France’s overseas territories and realise just how many similarities two girls on opposite sides of the world can share. It’s such a wonderful opportunity to discover an area which most of us only see as a holiday destination; we forget that there are students just like us, listening to the same music and watching the same shows, who consider the UK to be just as remote as Bora Bora is for us.” Lydia (Year 12)
“It was really great to have the opportunity to develop our French and learn about the culture of Bora Bora at the same time; a place which we would not usually have the chance to study in our A Level course. The exchange also allowed us to mentally escape our lockdown bubble.” Catriona (Year 12)
“In a time where phones, direct messaging and social media dominate, putting pen to paper to communicate with St Mary’s Calne students has been experienced as a positive time by the students here at the Lycée. The personal effort required to read then write back has been seen as a welcome moment of slow living in everyone’s fast-paced everyday lives” Ms Lehartel
Miss Cécile Rinjonneau. Teacher of French and MFL Enrichment Coordinator.