Vol 6 Issue 1.pub - Highcliffe School

their first time on a crosschannel
ferry. For most of
them it was their initiation
into the delights of a Highcliffe
Language College international
visit and we
hope it will be the first of
many!
Report by Mr Hill
Cholet Exchange 2006
On 19 th June 18 Year 9
students set off with Mr
Hill and Miss Jose (now
Mrs Day!) on the annual
French exchange.
As in previous years we
travelled on the Eurostar
from Waterloo to Paris,
where we spent just under
24 hours packing in
as many sights as possible!
On the first evening
the group managed to
get to the top of the Eiffel
Tower early enough
to afford superb views as
the sun set over the
capital followed by lights
coming on all over the
magical city. The boat
trip down the Seine with
Bateaux Parisiens to see
the illuminated sights
was a real highlight of
this evening. The following
day saw us take an
early breakfast and take
the métro to Montmartre
to visit the Sacré Coeur
and the artists in the Place
du Tertre. On our return
via Notre Dame there was
just time to visit the extraordinary
Centre Pompidou
and photograph the
comical coloured mechanical
fountains designed by
Tingueley.
Then it was onto the TGV
for a really comfortable
and rapid journey over to
Cholet where our penfriends
and their families
were waiting in the Collège
Trémolières.
The following day allowed us
a tour of the collège and a
bicycle ride down to the
lovely Lac de Ribou for a
picnic with the French students.
Futuroscope is billed as the
intelligent theme park - giant
Imax screens, 3-D. 360°
cinema, crystal clear images
and the latest computer
simulations gave us a
memorable day out with our
penfriends. The amazing
new ride this year was certainly
not for the faint
hearted – giant robotic arms
took two passengers in turn
on the “danse avec les robots”.
The collège has a tradition
of allowing us to join in its
fun sports day. Here our
students could compete in
Frisby throwing, mountain
bike challenge, badminton,
football and relay. They
loved the fact that everyone
decorated a plain
white T-shirt with bright
slogans advertising their
teams and the excellent
spirit was really contagious.
Le Puy du Fou is a historical
theme park which contains
everything from a
Roman amphitheatre capable
of hosting chariot races
to representations of
French villages from
various stages of history.
Here there was
also a new attraction
on a gigantic indoor
stage: “Mousquetaire
de Richelieu”.
After an actionpacked
week with
new friends there
were a lot of tears on
departure day but
there was some consolation-
the French
partners will return
on 28 th September
for a week at Highcliffe.
They will visit
Portsmouth with their
partners, travel to
Beaulieu and London
and spend the weekend
“en famille”.
Report by Mr Hill
Mr Hill meets the Ambassador
“The Ambassador of the
Federal Republic of Germany,
Wolfgang Ischinger,
requests the pleasure of
the company of Mr Phil Hill
to celebrate the teaching
of German in the UK.”
What an honour this was –
a chance not to be missed.
After this unexpected invitation
dropped through the
letterbox, Mr. Hill made his
H2U, Vol 5 Issue 6, Humanities Special - June 2006 Page 16