Francophonic Fun!
15 April 2024Finally… a sensible expenditure of our EU tax contributions! Ms. Crowley, Niall Baneham, Dr. Fallon, Mr. O’Neill, all of our Fifth Year French students (+six especially keen Sixth Years) welcomed a whirlwind visit by a French school from Saint-Nazaire, aided by a grant through an Erasmus Plus Grant (80,000€!) which allows them to organise exchanges, placements, training programmes to improve the knowledge of teachers and students alike. With Erasmus + you can travel only if you find schools who are willing to host you otherwise the grant can’t be used… and St. Conleth’s happily obliged!
The day started with a ‘speed dating session’ for the 35 French students to break the ice with our own students and get to know one another a bit. Then they all walked them into town, to the Yeats exhibit in the National Library and the Heaney exhibit in College Green. On their return, Chefs Mark and Emerson (feeling the pressure of cooking for the French!) organised burgers and chips for all seventy students and five teachers! This feast was followed by some improv Irish music performed by Fergus O’Neill and super-vamper Giacomo Donjon. And lulled into a receptive mood by the honeyed chords of this dynamic duo, the last session was run by Ann Fallon who organised an introduction to a selection of Yeats and Heaney poems and a fun-filled Kahoot game!