We can't go overseas at the moment. True! So what? After all. we have an awesome destination around the corner to celebrate the French language and culture and its (small) impact on Aotearoa!

Thanks to Covid19 Akaroa has become very much the new Paris! ☺ So off we went with 27 Year 11 – 13 students for two nights from Friday 28th to Sunday 30th May to the wonderful Mount Vernon Lodge. The girls shared cosy chalets and settled in happily. They practised independent living (including getting up in the mornings on time!) with great success.

Our programme was jam-packed with activities. The girls worked hard on their internal assessments and writing tasks for a couple of hours, walked down the hill (and back up!) to visit the Akaroa museum to learn about the French settlement of Akaroa. 

They then did an Amazing Race around town to discover indicators of French heritage in the region. Back on the premises, the Year 11 and 12 girls produced a music video In preparation for the upcoming UC immersion day.

In the evenings we held a French quiz night – (which included a lot of running and thinking and which turned into a serious competition!), followed by a much more relaxing French movie evening the next night.

My personal highlight was probably the concours de cuisine, a cooking competition where the girls worked in teams and prepared dinner for everyone, including a presentation of their dishes in French. Deciding on the winning menu was not easy but in the end, Alexandra Nicolaou’s Year 11 team’s mousse au chocolat drew with the tarte aux pommes from Lauren Healeys’s IB SL team. Ha Ngiem’s IB Ab initio group’s Vietnamese noodle dish (a family recipe) won the prize for the best main dish.

All teachers involved were delighted with this group of girls who were on their best behaviour, worked extremely well with each other, showed respect for the environment and genuine interest in all activities offered to them. You made SMC proud, girls!