Am just winding down now at the end of the final day of 2009-10's edition of our triangular Ballard-Highcliffe School-Collège Trémolières. Although this is only our 4th year on the programme, it already feels like a fixture in the school calendar. I know I am biased, but the MFL Department is definitely the highest profile department in the school right now - what with the European Language Olympics still fresh in the memory, plus the "I love Languages - do you?" badges, our own Ballard "Star of the Term" badges and "Star of the Week certificates"...all of this on the basis of some bloody good teaching and (not that they are the be-all-and-end-all) GCSE results over the last few years...
But I digress! (No! Never! ;) The French Exchange is the centre-piece of French at Ballard (and with the advent of our new Germanist HoD, we will be adding a German one next summer!) From uncertain beginnings, where I had to prowl the car-park at pick-up time twisting pupil and parents' arms to get a measly 5 participants, we this year had 10, plus 6 extra host families who did not go to France in June but gladly received French students this week. And next year we have 12 confirmed applicants, plus at least 6 or 7 more possibles! We may be in the position of being able to "cherry-pick" our best students!
This year's vintage has been very special, again - you only had to watch the kids tear-stained faces at 6 a.m. today as they hugged their new best friends and had to be "rugby-scrummed" onto the coach for Poole... They have been a very "soudé" group, coping well with an unfortunate incident early this week which resulted in the repatriation of one of the French students, and coming out even more "together".
And the way that students, parents, younger siblings and staff all joined to celebrate the last night at New Milton Cricket Club (thanks for use of your clubroom, NMCC!) was a sign that this Exchange is going from strength to strength. Roll on next June!