First exchanges with Australia between Évreux and Sydney

No submarine issue, no defeat Wallaby 29-30 against France during the fall tour, their desire to tie permanent exchanges between Aristide-Briand High School inEvro and theInternational Grammar School (IGS) in Sydney.

Officially made on Monday, between Anthony Dennehyand Deputy Director of IGS and Jean-Michel DiotPrincipal of Ebroïcien High School, with the signing of a contract linking the two institutions, this partnership marks the beginning of “mutual understanding” and the creation of “new friendships”.

“In addition to broadening the horizons of our professors and students, it also aims above all to create the attributes of a future citizen of the world,” defines the document initialed on Monday by Jean-Michel Diot.

Six pioneers make their way

Developing an exchange model that has been created for more than 20 years between Jean Monnet High School in Montpellier And IGS in Sydney, this project arrived in the baggage of the head of the institution. The former principal of Hérault High School, Jean-Michel Duot, launched the idea for this international exchange in the middle of the school year. Very quickly a call was launched for candidates to organize a first stay in Australia. Nineteen students volunteered. Three of them were chosen based on their motivation and ability to independently experience a journey to the other side of the planet.

the lucky three (Swan PiggottAnd Gabriel Kiradi et al Enas Massoud) to Sydney this summer, for six weeks in Australia. Taken into their host families, they had series visits and courses with their Australian counterparts. Unforgettable, “a very nice experience to discover another world and its culture”, this stay has been revived with the arrival last weekend of three Australian students in Évreux.

They are received in turn by the team of teachers responsible for the exchange (teachers of English and history), where they will spend three weeks of lessons and three weeks of vacation with French families.

A great opportunity for cultural openness.

Throughout the stay, Australians will be able to discover the different courses offered at Aristide-Briand, including music, plastic arts, etc. ; On schedule, they will play the role of assistant during English lessons; They will be invited to an informal “coffee time” at lunchtime or during business hours. Principle ? Around fruit juice, talk time half in English and half in French with student volunteers. They will be offered specific activities (prom, match) at school but also by families (Normandy tourism, etc).

“This type of exchange is above all a great opportunity for cultural openness and language progression for the students involved, but it is also a laboratory for the educational activities associated with the presence of Australians in secondary school, with an impact far beyond the lonely students,” he said. Claire Espinasa secondary school cultural reference teacher.

This exchange is not the only one: starting in January, twenty-four Spanish students will arrive at Aristide-Briand, for a period of ten days. Another two will spend a month and a half at the institution, which will also send French students and teachers to Spain. This project is part of an Erasmus+ poster, in the process of being acquired. An exchange is scheduled in Italy in 2023-2024. “The idea is to diversify the proposals and rely on the students’ real immersion abroad.”

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