William Brookes School Blog

This year we celebrate the 26th Anniversary of our exchange with the Collėge Gaston Huet, Vouvray!
41 French exchange students arrived in Much Wenlock on 26th March, to take part in our well-established annual Year 9 Exchange between the two schools. They were accompanied by 4 members of staff - Mireille Nicault, Nicole Maier, Gerard Regnier and Martine David.

The students have been very well looked after by our Year 9 hosts and their families, to whom we’re very grateful for the kind hospitality they offered.
During their stay in Shropshire, our visitors have had a wonderful time visiting Much Wenlock , Ludlow, Ironbridge, Blists Hill and Shrewsbury . They also sampled a variety of lessons in school, and French and British students all enjoyed their shared trip to ‘Waterworld’.

Our French visitors returned to Vouvray on Friday, 3rd April.

This term, the Year 9 hosts from William Brookes travel to Vouvray to sample the delights of the Loire Valley, and improve their French!
We know that we will be equally well looked after, and look forward to our visit.
Madame Ellison.

French Visit from Bavay
The Languages Department has been very busy lately! As well as our successful Exchange Visit, on April 2nd we also welcomed 25 students and their teachers from Le Collège Jean Lemaire de Belges in Bavay, Northern France. The French students have been writing to students in one of our Year 9 French groups all year and it was an opportunity for them all to meet up face to face.
After a welcome from Mrs Cooper, they were given a talk about the school from Mrs Crowther and some of our Sixth Form students and then engaged in some “getting to know you” activities with their penpals, during period 3.

After lunch with their penpals in the school canteen, they observed some lessons in the afternoon before going off for a tour of Much Wenlock. It was a really successful visit and we hope to be able to continue to build on this link in the future.
Mrs Crowther.

This week is European Language Week at William Brookes School and we are celebrating different languages used throughout Europe.

In the school entrance you will see a display portraying students and staff who have varied language skills: some speak a second language quite well, whilst others have learnt English as their second language and continue to learn more. Wednesday’s assembly included presentations of different languages native to
Europe. Students acted in French, German, Welsh and Italian, and one performed a song from ‘South Pacific’ in French. The Modern Foreign Languages department are also teaching Spanish, Welsh and Italian this week, and students are being encouraged to use ten different languages to say ‘hello’, ‘good day’, ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Friday 26^th September is ‘European Day of Languages’ and, we hope, a day for us all to begin improving our awareness of languages and cultures.