A webinar with Sarah Hau: Organising residential visits to Paris

29.02.24

ALL London organises webinars for the MFL community and this webinar, held in a Zoom room and also viewable on an unlisted YouTube stream, is open to all MFL teachers. We hope that you will like us and want to join! https://www.all-languages.org.uk/join/

We also thank the presenters, who give freely of their time and expertise.

Many thanks to Sarah for preparing a really helpful session on organising residential visits to Paris. It was great to hear of her experiences and we also thanks those who came along and shared their ideas.

This page has the recording, session information, a pdf of the presentation, and the chat.

Recording:

Presentation pdf

Thanks to Sarah for sharing her work. You can download a copy here: Webinar – Paris residential trips Feb 2024 final

Session information

Giving pupils a chance to experience first hand the language they are learning in the classroom is undoubtedly one of the most rewarding aspects of teaching, but it requires a great deal of commitment and organisation on the part of teachers. ALL London’s sessions on organising residential trips and exchanges were very popular at The January Event 2024, and we promised to run a further session focusing on running residential trips to Paris. Sarah will talk about her experience with getting overseas trips back on the agenda post-covid, with tips and things to look out for with respect to administration, travel, accommodation, promotion and activities.
She will focus on planning residential visits to Paris based on successful Y11 + 6th form trips, and she will invite participants to share their own experiences. Helen Myers will moderate the session and chip in with her own experience of running trips to Paris.

Session Presenter

Sarah is Head of MFL at Newstead Wood School, a girls’ grammar school in Kent, where she teaches mainly French, but with some German and Spanish. Always open to new ideas, she is also a keen linguist, currently teaching herself Japanese!

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Chat

00:22:55 tabitha corley: Hi ive signed up for ideas as im only training at the moment. Im also due in another governors meeting so im going to have to leave and go back. I came to the All day which was great. Thanks
00:24:09 tabitha corley: Sorry to join and leave but hope to catch up with you again soon.
00:27:34 Elisabeth Lara: Le Louvre
00:27:40 Steve Manderson: Vimmy Ridge?
00:27:42 Elisabeth Lara: Paris
00:27:44 Jennifer Wozniak Rush: La Tour Eiffel, Le Louvre, l’opéra
00:27:55 Jennifer Wozniak Rush: Dysneyland
00:28:13 Jennifer Wozniak Rush: Astérix?
00:28:19 Steve Manderson: Park Asterix?
00:33:55 Helen Myers: Things to consider: French or English guides / commentary?
00:34:28 Jessica: Sorry I’m going to have to leave. Will catch up with the recording. Thank you.
00:34:50 Helen Myers: I walk Paris at night with older pupils, but I can see that it would be safer with a coach!
00:35:11 Helen Myers: Hi Kevin – good to see you!
00:35:57 Helen Myers: Montparnasse great for a view of the Eiffel Tower
00:36:16 Helen Myers: Arc de Triomphe also has an exhibition insode
00:36:21 Jennifer Wozniak Rush: I’ve arranged for two coach drivers this year so I could see the sights at night as previously we were limited with time as the driver needed to go back to the hotel at a certain time
00:36:47 Jennifer Wozniak Rush: Great view of Notre Dame from boat trip
00:36:49 Helen Myers: Notre Dames – planned to open in Dec 24
00:37:23 Helen Myers: La Défense – also a very good shopping area nearby
00:37:31 Helen Myers: Do feel free to add comments!
00:41:27 Kevin Dunne: Replying to “Hi Kevin – good to s…”
Hi, Helen. Thanks for organising. Had a lovely pre-COVID trip to Paris. Highlights were Montmartre and a couple of ‘free’ walking tours. I say ‘free’ because they were so good that participants tended to give a generous tip!
00:43:10 Helen Myers: There are some really good guides for musée d’orsay – not very expensive – happy to speak in simple French
00:44:05 Kirsten Castro: I’ve heard that school groups get free entry to the Louvre
00:44:26 Jennifer Wozniak Rush: Yes, I got free entry for my school group.
00:44:39 Kirsten Castro: Nice shops around the back of Sacré Cœur
00:46:14 Kirsten Castro: The information about the Louvre came from the company I’m booking with for next year
00:46:51 Kirsten Castro: Has anyone done les Catacombes?
00:49:56 Steve Manderson: larger groups than 40/44 + Staff limits the choices of coaches available. Worth considering as it can be counter intuitive and make it more expensive. There is an optimum number – both for cost and your sanity! (Speaking as someone who took 120 skiing one year!)
00:50:35 Steve Manderson: I love Chartier! I have always found it really interesting that the servers talk about the food and encourage kids to try snails etc.
00:50:55 Steve Manderson: And the cutlery drawers around Chariter are a lovely story too.
00:58:55 Steve Manderson: If you are planning for next year allow time for ETIAS applications and make sure parents are informed that they will need to apply.
00:59:28 Steve Manderson: Also the Entry Exit at the ferry ports are changing so make sure you ask your tour operator for details of what you need to do.
00:59:34 Jennifer Wozniak Rush: Helen, can I add something?
00:59:56 Helen Myers: Yes – please do!
01:00:25 Helen Myers: Steve – do you want to turn on video too and tell us about your advice?
01:00:46 Steve Manderson: The list of travellers only works for visa free entry for school trips in France (I know we are talking specifically about Paris) so be aware it doesn’t work elsewhere in the EU if you are travelling elsewhere.
01:01:50 Helen Myers: Jennifer’s idea: consent from parents for a blog etc.
01:02:26 Helen Myers: this reassures parents esp of younger pupils
01:05:39 Helen Myers: any other ideas to promote?
01:06:45 Kirsten Castro: We had students talk in our languages week assembly to promote the trip they had been on
01:06:58 Helen Myers: Good idea Kirsten
01:07:34 Helen Myers: Code of conduct on a microsoft form ..
01:09:58 Steve Manderson: Online evening for students and parents/carers
01:10:12 Steve Manderson: Offering it int he evening means parents/carers can see first hand.
01:10:12 Kevin Dunne: Thanks, Sarah, some really useful advice. Good luck everyone on your trips!
01:10:30 Steve Manderson: Promo especially
01:11:46 Helen Myers: we’ll share ppt used for info evening
01:13:12 Kirsten Castro: Refillable water/drinks bottle
01:13:29 Fliss Compton: There is an app called Paris Toilets you can download that tells you where they are!
01:15:47 Kirsten Castro: www.parisjetaime.com
01:16:38 Kirsten Castro: Part of Paris tourist board but has toilet information and has a disability add in too if needed
01:16:48 Helen Myers: Thanks
01:17:44 Samia saci: I’ve Just downloaded Toilets in Paris it looks easy to use
01:17:52 Kirsten Castro: Snapchat is v useful for locating lost students! They all have each other as friends.
01:18:57 Kirsten Castro: Do they need passports for any of the visits?
01:19:01 Jennifer Wozniak Rush: Has anyone used the food voucher on the ferry?
01:19:38 Kirsten Castro: Yes – I’ve had the free meals. Very good value 👍🏼
01:19:44 Jennifer Wozniak Rush: I have not either
01:19:56 Jennifer Wozniak Rush: Reacted to “Yes – I’ve had the f…” with 👍
01:20:11 Steve Manderson: Keep image of passport on phone. That will satisfy most situations if they need it.
01:20:22 Kirsten Castro: Reacted to “Keep image of passpo…” with 👌
01:20:26 Steve Manderson: On student phone (if they have them)
01:21:30 Steve Manderson: Whatsapp has a share my location feature that you can use with students.
01:22:01 Steve Manderson: Students can share their location for 15 minutes, say, and you can track them live if they are lost. Or you can just see where they are and find them.
01:22:20 Steve Manderson: Not that I have ever lost anyone!!!!!
01:23:27 Fliss Compton: Replying to “Not that I have ever…”

Thanks all have to go to collect my son, session was really useful
01:23:38 Kirsten Castro: Any recommendations of companies?
01:23:41 Helen Myers: Merci Fliss!
01:26:08 Samia saci: Link pls
01:29:01 Helen Myers: https://connectstudies.co.uk/
01:29:19 Helen Myers: https://www.bluestamptravel.com/
01:30:06 Samia saci: Reacted to https://www.bluestam… with “👍”
01:30:34 Kirsten Castro: I’ve used Halsbury, PGL and Schools into Europe
01:31:32 Jennifer Wozniak Rush: https://edventuretravel.co.uk/
01:31:46 Samia saci: I am new to teaching- here for ideas from experienced organisers
01:31:59 Kirsten Castro: Merci ☺️
01:32:06 Elisabeth Lara: Very useful, thank you very much!
01:32:14 Jennifer Wozniak Rush: Thank you Sarah and Helen
01:32:14 Samia saci: Thank you