A report on the inaugural French/Sports exchange.

 The RGS has the long established French/History trip and the more recent Toulouse work experience trip but has not had a regular exchange for a few years. It was with excitement therefore that we anticipated the arrival of students from the Lycee Arago at our school The exchange for 16 boys in Year 11 and 8 in year 10 was set up in conjunction with the British Council who agreed to fund the joint curriculum project entitled “The Unifying Spirit of Sport”.

Mrs. Tan, provided an excellent mix of sporting and cultural activities and masterminded the programme for the English leg of the exchange.

DAY 1 Sun 25th Nov   Morning spent with family.
                                     Rugby match at Adams Park Wasps v Newcastle Falcons
                                     Evening at home with the family.

DAY 2 Mon 26th Nov French students go to RGS for the first time.
                                    Assembly presented by staff and boys of both schools
                                    Trip to London - Tour of the major sights.

DAY 3 Tue 27th Nov  Trip to Henley to visit the rowing museum by the Thames
                                    Visit to the Club the gym where most of our rowing medallists
                                    train.
                                    Lunch at school
                                    Lycee participates in Year 11 rugby during games session
                                    Team building games in the Queen’s Hall.

DAY 4 Wed 28th Nov Trip to Twickenham and tour of the stadium.
                                     Visit to Hampton Court

DAY 5 Thu 29th Nov  Wasps Academy training session with Arago students.
                                     Time spent in class observing lessons
                                     Lunch at school
                                     Rugby match RGS v Lycee Arago on Uplyme field

DAY 6 Fri 30th Nov    Trip to Oxford
                                     Session of cricket in the RGS Sports Hall
                                     Cricket tea and presentations
                                     Final evening in families

DAY 7 Sat 1st Dec       Meet at RGS and return to France

The second leg of the inaugural French/Sports exchange took place just before the February half term between the 5th and the 12th of February. Our French counterparts had completed the first leg in November when they were hosted by 16 Year 11 and 8 Year 10 boys. The students from the Lycee Arago in Perpignan had enjoyed trips to Oxford, Henley, Hampton Court and Twickenham stadium as well as being coached by the Wasps Academy coaches and joining in with the Under 16 rugby squad training. There was also an Anglo-French rugby encounter, won by the hosts. A cricket session was also laid on for our guests in the name of the British Council led project entitled “The Unifying Spirit of Sport”.

DAY 1- Wed 6th Feb. Trip to the coastal town of Collioure. A guided tour of Castle.
                                    Lunch at the windmill overlooking the bay and the town
                                    Free time in Collioure
                                    Artists tour of the town given by a local guide

DAY 2- Thu 7th Feb. Visit to the caves in the mountain village near Villefranche
                                   Lunch at Villefranche
                                   Trip into the mountains by train and transported by coach to
                                   thermal spa.
                                   Walk back down to meet the coach and taken back to school.

DAY 3- Fri 8th Feb.  Tour of Perpignan given by the local guide.
                                  Lunch in Perpignan
                                  Rugby match at local stadium followed by a reception at the
                                  Town Hall.

Reception in the Townhall

DAY 4- Sat 9th Feb. Badminton tournament organised at school.
                                 Lunch with host families.
                                 Trip to see Perpignan v Clermont Ferrand rugby match at
                                 Perpignan’s stadium.

DAY 5- Sun10th Feb. Day spent entirely with host families in a variety of ways.

DAY 6- Mon11th Feb. Trip to prehistory museum at Tautavel
                                   Lunch at Tautavel
                                   Trip to Salses castle and brief tour.
                                   Return to Perpignan for souvenir shopping.

DAY 7-Tue12th Feb Observation of lessons in school with correspondents
                                  Free time in town to complete souvenir shopping
                                  School lunch
                                  Dispersal to Perpignan airport and home.

This was the first time around for this exchange and both boys and staff will testify to a very successful trip. Many of the boys have promised to return to Perpignan, a fiercely Catalan city just half an hour from the Spanish border and, with temperatures reaching comfortable shirtsleeves in early February, who could blame them.The last day was the first time anyone saw a cloud and as the plane touched down at Stansted it was with more than a tinge of regret that we were all due back in school first thing the following morning. AU REVOIR et MERCI Perpignan…… A la prochaine….