Loreto Balbriggan French Exchange

This week, our school had the exciting opportunity of welcoming a group of 20 exchange students and 4 of their teachers from Cóllege Hector Berlioz in Colmar, France. The students were a mix of boys and girls, all around the ages of 13 and 14. They were partnered up with students from Ms.Ni Mhorain’s 3rd year French class. Throughout the week, they participated in many interesting and fun activities to help them connect with Irish culture.

On Monday, the students arrived in Ireland and spent the day getting to know their host families in Swords.

Tuesday was their first day in our school. The first activity was a presentation about Loreto Balbriggan, followed by a quiz about our school. The students who got the answers right were rewarded with popular Irish sweets, like Haribos and Jelly Tots. After the quiz, the students went on a tour of the school with their 3rd year buddies. After the tour, the students and their buddies did some icebreaker activities to get to know each other better.

After a break, the Irish dancing club performed for the students and taught the students some Irish dances. Once the dancing was finished, the students did a book exchange with their buddies. The French students gave some of their favourite French books from their childhoods to their buddies, and the 3rd years gave the students some iconic books for Irish children, like 'Diary of A Wimpy Kid', 'Rainbow Magic' books, and Roald Dahl books. 

Following the book exchange, the students learned the Dreolin and did some Just Dances, like Timber. After lunch, the students and their buddies went on a tour of Balbriggan with Ms.Caffrey and learned about some of the historical events behind the town, like the Sack of Balbriggan, and visited some monuments, such as the Martello Tower.

On Wednesday, the students and their buddies went on a trip into Dublin Town and visited some museums and learned about Irish culture and history. They also did a little bit of shopping.

On Thursday, they spent the first two periods playing Gaelic football and different other sports like basketball and volleyball with Future Leaders. After break, they sat in on and got to participate in some lessons such as Samba and Home Ec. The students enjoyed activities such as making chocolate chip muffins and playing some Samba music. After lunch, the Trad band performed some traditional Irish music and some members of the Irish dancing club performed a dance for them. Once that was over, there were some presentations on Irish culture and celebrities and a quiz. After the quiz, the students had a ceili and learned some Irish dances. Then they performed ‘The Fields of Athenry’ by The Dubliners, which they had learned to surprise their 3rd year buddies and listened to some music by The Cranberries. Finally, to celebrate their last day being in the school, they had a party after school.

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On Friday, their last day in Ireland, the students went on a trip to Malahide Castle and Village. 

Written by Aqeebah Razak Hammed