Our French Connection !

Vive ‘ l’Entente Cordiale’ franco-australienne !

Eight fortunate Year 11 students, having recently returned from their séjour in the francophone island of la Réunion, are now even more enthusiastic about pursuing their French studies to TEE level. In 2010, thanks to our dedicated Middle School teachers Mrs.Theodosiadis, Mr. Stotzer and Mrs. O’Connor, another seven keen applicants will embark on this excellent scheme organised by the long-established W.A.-La Réunion Exchange which caters annually for a large number of students from both private and state schools in Western Australia.

The great advantage of this exchange is that students are exposed to a whole month of immersion in the French language through living with a French-speaking family. In addition, they enjoy a wonderful holiday in a totally different culture and environment. They then have a return visit from their exchange partner and offer similar hospitality in Perth. We encourage the parents of current Year 9 students of French to consider financing this relatively low-cost opportunity when their children reach Year 11. (Much less expensive than a trip to France and plenty of time for the students to save up their pocket-money!)

This year Mt. Lawley has also hosted eight Upper School students from different areas of France on stays of between 3 to 8 weeks. (Visits were arranged by several reputable international and local organisations.) Students have attended classes in all subjects for either full or half-days. In French classes they have been integrated into lessons via structured conversation groups with our own Year 11 and 12 students of French, leading to formal oral and written presentations by all students in their target language. There has been much meaningful, and mutually beneficial, bi-lingual interaction in our classes recently ……not to mention a huge amount of fun!

Mrs. P. Stewart


Australian dream for visiting French students

We had a really great time here, even if it was cold and a bit rainy. Australian school is very different from French school: here you can choose the subjects you want to learn. In France you can’t and you have to learn more than 10 subjects. Moreover this is a really colourful school so when you come here, even if the weather is bad, this place is always luminous. We love the fact that you can learn music, cooking, drama and art…
When we first arrived here it was so strange for us because in France you never wear uniforms. However, we were very happy to see that Aussie students were open-minded and came to talk to us. We enjoyed meeting new people, discovering new cultures and ways of life. We went to some “tourist” places to see koalas, kangaroos, aboriginal galleries and we went for two days to Rottnest Island (where we saw a lot of quokkas). The trip to go there was very rough and some French people were seasick. We went surfing three times during sunny days. And as good French girls we did a lot of shopping (the boys did too). We leave Australia just after the Boat Cruise with wonderful pictures of Perth by night in our minds. To put it in a nutshell, we enjoyed our trip very much and we wish we could come back here in summer.
Thank you so much for hosting us.
Magali, Orlane, Melissa, Benjamin et Nicolas.