Rydon practise their French during day trip to Boulogne

It was 4.30am as the 124 bleary eyed students took their seats allowing the three coaches to pull out.

A two hour drive to Dover where there was a ferry to catch; eventually arriving in France and finding the market in Boulogne.

They were here to practise their French language skills and buy food and trinkets from the market. Jamie Davis said: “It was really fun and I enjoyed talking to the stall holders and learning new things.”

Alice Robinson said: “The best bit about the trip was shopping in the boutique Bijoux Bridgit and in Sephora”.”

Pupils bought their lunch and many bought souvenirs as a memory of their visit.

Following an hour or so in the market, they left to visit the French school Collège Albert Camus, a school that Rydon has close links with. Pupils from the Collège Albert Camus showed the Rydon students around their school and were shown the Library, plus the Music, Geography, PE and Language departments.

The Rydon students saw the French secondary school with its climbing wall in the Gym, were fascinated by the different keyboard layout in the Spanish language room and they watched some girls practising for a dance competition.

Finally, it was time to go and everyone boarded the coaches back to the port. On arrival, everyone had to pass through a passport checkpoint before being allowed to catch the ferry home.

The visit was a huge success with many pupils saying they enjoyed the day out. “I think the best part of travelling to France was experiencing the market and the ferry. It was a great place to practice all the French we’d learnt in lessons,” commented Amelia Hamlet.

This sentiment was echoed by Lauren Fisher when she said: “I liked have the opportunity to put what I’d learnt in lessons into practice. “

Head of Modern Foreign Languages at Rydon, Madame White, thought the day was a huge success and commented: “The pupils were fantastic and impressed me with the effort they made to use the French they had studied in lessons for a real purpose. Well done year 8!”

Report and picture contributed by Rydon Community College.