Author Archives: Deleted User

Hi all, you find me sat in teacher’s room here at the beautiful chateau where, by virtue of me holding my laptop, I have just avoided a water ballooning from some eager St Mary’s children as a ‘prize’ for winning scrapheap challenge – more to come on this later.

The day started with us making good time to Folkestone followed by a very quick passage through the tunnel, all children were excited to get going and the quick journey meant all were in fine fettle for Nausicaa. Our coach driver Sergio kindly put a Mr Bean film on for the children, I’d have thought Mr Bean might be a bit old hat for the class of 2017 but all seemed transfixed and giggled at the slapstick that was served up to them.

I’m pleased to say that our policy of no electronics is going well, the children have been playing hangman, playing cards and even….writing! One child must have been quite bored however, as I glanced over her shoulder to see she had drawn the most detailed biro drawing of an ice cream I have ever seen – two hours clearly put to good use 😉

We arrived at Nausicca in really good time and had a solid 1.5 hour visit which meant the children could really take the time to take in all the amazing exhibits. Three of our groups managed to see the sea lions being fed which was a real treat. The feeding was swiftly followed by ten children doing an impression of a sea lion , I can only imagine the other French tourists must have thought we were a bit odd – or maybe just British.

When we got to the Chateau I wandered over to check on the girls only to find Mr Williams purposefully wheeling a suitcase through the corridor with a child closely followed behind. He reliably informed me that there had been a suitcase mix up and he was on he look our for a similar navy blue case that belonged to the child he was with.

We got to the girl’s room and just as Holmes and Watson were deducing who’s bag had been mixed up, Mr Williams decided to check to the front pouch……in it we found a letter addressed to the parents of the girl who had cried foul in the first place, cue looks of incredulity from the two class teachers as we informed the girl that it must be hers all along. This one was a first for me, I’ve never even had a child not recognise their own case never mind be adamant someone had taken theirs – but on school journey, nothing surprises me.

So as I write the children have just finished scrapheap challenge and despite chants of MR POWELL! MR POWELL! my technology in hand saved my skin from a water ballooning.

However……….there was one man who was willing to step forward, cue Mr Williams (hoodie hood pulled tight around his head a la E.T) who stepped forward in front of 58 eager pupils to get his comeuppance, he took it really well and the children will have a fun memory to take with them into day 2. I will tweet a picture of said incident with this blog post.

A note about the food, we had mini pizzas, turkey escalopes, chocolate eclairs and of course….bags of baguette – one table seemed to create their own Eiffel Tower of bread which they dismantled with hungry intent.

Tomorrow is Dieppe and an organic goat’s cheese farm which we have never been to before so it should be good fun.

As ever, all children are happy and full of energy for the week ahead.

Mr Powell

Hi all, here is where you will find al of my daily blogs which I will write in the evenings. I will also post two Twitter updates a day.

I am currently blogging from the shuttle train; we are about to depart for La Belle France with Nausicaa aquarium first on the menu.

The children have just got an old fashioned, VERY loud ‘who we are…..where we come from….’ chant going – which I’m obviously delighted about 😉

Mr Williams just said ‘right I’m going to teach them a new one’, I’ll let you know how it goes, I’m presuming it’s something in Welsh.

As ever, all children are excited about the week and in good spirits.

Mr Powell

Hi all, today was our last full day here Normandy and the children certainly made it count with a day of culinary and cultural visits topped off by the finale to the week’s events – the DISCO!

I have just come from the disco to write this and it was certainly a lively affair. I’m pleased to say that things have moved on from my day when boys and girls would stand tentatively at either side of the dance floor, this was helped greatly by the centre staff who led lots of ‘dabbing’ and ‘nay naying’. I’m also pleased to add that the Macarena is still going strong – the girls still know all the moves and the boys still don’t.

One particluar dance move that caught my attention was from a group of boys, who, as far as I could see, were just shaking violently from head to toe; it was quite a strange sight but it seemed to go down well.

Earlier in the day we visited the Neufchâtel cheese farm where the children had a talk in French about how cheese is made. I’m pleased to say they followed the talk really well without too much coaching from the teachers – they were helped greatly by our two French speaking children who translated questions with aplomb. We then visited a calf who was three days old which the children loved, one child even remarked that she’d like to spend the night in the barn cuddled up to the calf – I said I’d speak to the farmer to see what he could do. We then went onto purchase over 70 Neufchatel cheeses as presents – Twickenham cheese boards will be soon full of Normandy’s finest heart shaped cow’s cheeses.

In the afternoon we headed to the cider farm which is a short walk from the chateau, we looked at how our guide Adrian’s family grew their apples and turned them into various apple products. The children also had a chance to sample his cider vinegar which Andrian then suggested was good for clearing spots. One child gave this unusual French remedy a try by dabbing it on a spot. Unfortunately, it didnt work as quickly as she had hoped, I’ll check for further results in the morning before I declare this miracle cure a success 🙂

Tomorrow it’s a visit to a beach in Mer Les Bains for an ice cream before we head back to Twickenham, keep an eye on Twitter for when we arrive back on British soil.

As ever, all children are happy and it has been a really superb week.

See you soon.

Mr Powell

Hi all, I am currently sitting observing the last of evening sun here in Criel sir Mer, we have had a couple of down-pours today so it feels like a welcome reward to finish with some sun. Despite the rain, nothing was to stop us today as we visited the port of Dieppe, visited a market, went to a hyper market and completed archery and fencing sessions on site.

Dieppe began with a trip to the creperie which was appropriately called ‘Tout Va Bien’, all children tucked into a chocolate crepe and their confidence to use French with our waiter was nice to see.

After a short tour covering the history of Dieppe, we visited another market street and, despite some drizzle, the children’s appetite for glorious tat was evidently undiminished. Amoungst the purchases of must-have brand new pink aviators came some shopper’s guilt. One child remarked ‘I just feel I want to buy my parents something, all I’ve bought is deodorant and sweets.’ This deodorant was promptly sprayed onto his friend’s wrists for them to sample as if it we’re Chanel’s finest.

Another lovely moment came when one child purchased two scented candles for his auntie, what a lovely gesture. I just hope his auntie has a problem with insects as it was two Citronella candles. It’s definitely the thought that counts.

A word for Mrs Goalen, her tremendous enthusiasm knows no bounds, from random spot quizzes about the history of Rouen to two of the hardest high fives I have ever received. She helps to make all our day trips such fun.

As I sign off, the children are currently enjoying ‘scrapheap challenge’ which looks a bit crazy, they are making something out of cardboard boxes, no idea what they are supposed to be creating but they all seem to think it’s great fun.

Tomorrow is a visit to a cheese farm, a beach walk and a trip to a local cider farm. As ever, all children are happy and are squeezing every last opportunity out of their week away 🙂

Mr Powell

Hi all, day 2 is drawing to a close here at the beautiful Chateau Chantereine and the children are taking part in mini olympics and the trail of mystery as I write this.

Our day began with the usual breakfast of cereal/brioche/fruit or yogurt and then children are asked to construct their own baguettes as part of a packed lunch before we set off for our day trip. There was plenty of pork going into most baguettes; ham and salami were being thrown in at will, and, of course, no one forgot the little French galette for pudding.

The tour of Rouen was really great once again and our guides were superb, they are extremely knowledgable and are sure to focus on the gorier side of history to keep young minds interested. One such story was based around the use of ‘ lucky cats’ to ward off the Black Death, unfortunately these ‘lucky cats’ did not meet a happy end – much to the disdain of our animal lovers. The end to this tale was a chance for the children to see one of these mummified ‘lucky cats’ that was found beneath the streets of Rouen some years ago. One of the children remarked how cute the cat looked – I wasn’t so sure.

The children then had a chance to visit a market in Rouen and one child managed to spend 11euros on pic and mix with another boy buying some rather fetching bright pink nail varnish which was ‘for his sister.’ I look forward to seeing his handy work at the disco…

After Rouen, we had the chance to stop off at a former Nazi bomb factory and it was a great chance for the children to see some history as it was left 70 years ago. They were able to see where the bombs were stored and transported; there was also a life size replica of a V1 missile to capture the imagination of eager boys.

So tomorrow it’s off to Dieppe for some more French history and a chance to buy some more ‘interesting’ items at another market. I’m anticipating a large array of garish sunglasses to be added to our luggage 🙂

As ever, all the the children are happy and are really into the swing of life at the Chateau, keep gazes onto Twitter for some pictorial updates of Dieppe and I will blog tomorrow.

Mr Powell

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