Last year, a group of students travelled to France with Mrs Pethybridge, our Director of Learning for Languages, to establish a new link with young people in our partner school, Collège Béranger. The trip resulted in firm friendships, which have since been nurtured through emails and social networking.

Written correspondence with young people in France offers a realistic opportunity for our students to improve their understanding of the French language; sending and receiving regular emails improves their ability to write and translate text, whilst learning about French culture and school life. However, seeing and speaking to their friends via Skype sessions is a much enjoyed additional educational experience.

At the end of last term, Mrs Pethybridge organised a Skype session to reunite our Year 10 students with their Collège Béranger hosts. The technology had been utilised successfully prior to the trip to introduce the groups, but now it gives students the opportunity to fully practice their new skills in translation and pronunciation, something that will help them immensely in their forthcoming speaking and listening exam.

Opportunities to communicate in this way not only build confidence and fluency, but students also develop more authentic pronunciation skills. Très bon!