My year 8 class were delighted last week to receive their second letters from their French penpals. Since 2017 Bushey Meads has been twinned with a school just outside Paris, Collège Henri-Wallon, in Malakoff. Every year, one class has been partnered with penpals from Henri-Wallon. This year our students have composed their initial letters of introduction in French and received letters from their ‘correspondents’ in English, and have exchanged some interesting items such as postcards, photos and coins from France. This is a fantastic opportunity to enable students to build meaningful exchanges in a foreign language beyond the classroom.

The next stage of development in this partnership is to create an exciting virtual exchange with the school. We hope that within the next few weeks, we will be able to give both sets of students the opportunity to talk to each other in real time and even give virtual lessons to their friends across the Channel.