Students and teachers from our French exchange school in Strasbourg enjoyed a week of sunshine and activities in and around Christchurch.

This is the fifth time a group from Jean Sturm has taken part in the exchange with senior CGHS students who are studying French. 

Each day last week, the French students arrived at school with their billets and then spent the day enjoying a variety of activities around the city.

They began their stay by visiting Christ's College and the Canterbury Museum, as well as  punting on the Avon.  On a visit to Ferrymead Heritage park, they had the opportunity to go back in time and had fun dressing up.  On the same day they took a ride on the Gondola and experienced the time tunnel. 

On Wednesday CGHS students of French were treated to presentations on a variety of themes; French regions and specialities, facts about Alsace, French music, daily life of a teenager in Strasbourg were amongst the topics. The French students had prepared engaging material and impressed their audience with their competence in speaking English.

During the remainder of the week, the group visited the Antarctic Centre, the Botanical Gardens, the Art Gallery and Willowbank, including the Ko Tane experience where they learned a little about Maori culture and visited the interactive village. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the amazing stage performance during which the boys were invited to learn a basic haka and the girls mastered a simple poi presentation.  The evening ended with a hangi dinner.

A group from Jean Sturm arrived in Christchurch for the first time in 2011, the day before the devastating earthquake.  This year's group visited the Canterbury Earthquake Memorial, Quake City and the White Chair Memorial - a sombre experience for this group of young people which gave them some insight into this tragic event in Christchurch's history.

The group have spend the last 6 days on a trip around the north of the South Island.  We look forward to hearing about their adventures and sharing them in next week's newsletter.