Newsletter July 2010
Welcome to all of you!
In this Newsletter, you will find summaries of all the recent activities undertaken by APELEVIA at College Mignet and Lycée Georges Duby since January and also dates for your diaries for upcoming events.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Games Evening March 27th 2010: The committee were very disappointed that this fundraising evening had to be abandoned due to lack of interest but we hope to organise further events in the future.
Bilingual Education in Marseille-Provence: On Wednesday 3rd March, the Mediterranean Anglo-Business Network (MAAB), held a conference in Marseille, on the subject of Bilingual Education in Elementary Schools. This meeting was attended by Claude Symonds, Valerie Le Den, Chris West .
The speakers included:
Jean Paul de Gaudemar - Recteur – Académie Aix-Marseille.
Gail Ellis - British Council Paris – Head of English Language
Teaching
Robert Maury - Provence Promotion - Managing Director
Neil Calder - ITER - Communications
Adelia Hackenheimer - Lycee George Duby – Head of International Section
Julia Fady - Collège A.Mignet – International Section
Alan Tricker - IBS Provence – Head of International Studies
Laurence Mouquet - Collège J.Monod – Deputy-Head
Sophie Bellot - EPIM - Head
The debate covered a number of important questions :
Are the public and private International Education facilities that exist equitably and efficiently distributed throughout the territory and do they satisfy requirements of the Anglo American families and businesses?
Where are these facilities and what do they offer?
Are non-French speaking children catered for?
What are the reactions of foreign Companies who are seeking to invest here?
Where does International Education lead?
A lively and rich debate was held and the Rector answered some very pertinent questions, we thank him for giving us the opportunity to meet him and to talk openly about the subjects that we have been following over the years, namely the lack of places in our schools. He advised us that, plans to build a new College and Lycée in Marseille were underway, in the hopes that Education Nationale will be in a position to satisfy the demands of Companies in the region who are suffering from the lack of facilities within easy distance of Marseille and Aix -en- Provence.
Mrs. Hackenheimer gave an interesting presentation on the benefits of International Education based upon her long experience and explained the difficulties of trying to satisfy the demands of everyone in the region.
Mrs. Fady underlined this speech with her experience and also of her frustration in not being able to meet demands in every year in the College Mignet, she gave an example of families searching for places and being forced to split the children into several schools, through lack of space in Mignet.
Following an intervention on this matter from Claude Symonds, President of APELEVIA, the Recteur confirmed there were no immediate plans to open another class in Mignet.
Mrs Mouquet’s problem was quite the opposite, as the recently opened International Section in the Collège Monod needs pupils. - Valerie Le Den
COLLEGE NEWS :
Entrance Exam May 20th 2010: This year there were 48 candidates due to take the exam for 6eme but in effect only 39 did. Once again the level was very high but as always, only 25 places were available. The collège kindly laid on coffee and cakes for the parents whilst they waited for their children.
For your information, the next entrance exam will be held on the 30th August 2010 (date to be confirmed on the Collège website). At the moment there are the following places available:
- 6eme: 5
- 5eme: 3
- 4eme: 5
- 3eme: 2 - J Fady
Collège Life: Numerous events were held by the Collège during the last term for the benefit of the children:
- The Conseil General financed a theatre trip for four classes of 6eme children with the TCHOUM troupe to deal with the problems of violence and abuse.
- For the 5eme, a talk was given by The League against Cancer on the prevention of drug abuse and smoking.
- for the 4eme, “Le médecin malgré lui”, by Molière enabled the staff to talk about the relations between men and women.
L’APJ came to talk about the judiciary system.
- For the 3eme, a week was organised to discuss AIDs and sexual education. The problems of organ donors was also tackled along with talks on the experiences of several transplant patients.
An awareness campaign against dangerous games is expected from the Social Services.
The CESC is to consider “How to eat better with respect for the Environment” with the help of the Université Populaire Rurale. - Claude Symonds
End of year party for 3eme International Sudents: It was with their feet in the water, the cicadas and the view of St Victoire that our 3eme students celebrated the end of Collège with a ‘pizza-party’ courtesy of APELEVIA and hosted by the Anderson Family. We wish to thank the Andersons for their warm welcome and hospitality. For the children it was a great time to relax before their Brevet and we wish them continued success at the Lycèe. - Frederique Chabran
LYCEE NEWS :
A Day for Future Graduates: On the 4th and 5th March 2010, we had the ‘Day for Future Graduates’ during which the Premiere students had the chance to visit several universities to help them with their future choices.
Mme Régnault explains:
“Last year, the Lycée Duby organised for 31 adults to escort 243 students to 17 different sites. This year, 31 adults enabled 334 students to visit 11 sites on the Thursday and 12 sites on the Friday.
Therefore 91 extra students.
11 head teachers were deployed in spite of the mock Bac exam and the trips (2 teachers returned from trips to England and went directly to their sites).”
Frédérique Chabran and myself, with Mme Blanc, a French teacher at the Lycée, accompanied 42 Premiere students to the IEP in Aix, in order to attend a very interesting conference on the course, given by Mr Duval, Director, Mr Nourian, Head of Studies and Mr Ferrazzola, Head of Education.
The IEP offer a 5 year course (with one year abroad)
- the 1st year is characterised by an interdisciplinary approach (economics, history, political science, sociology, languages, sport etc …).
- the 2nd year is the learning of the method and lateral thinking (approaching a subject in different ways). The students choose a subject for dissertation to be finished in the 4th year.
- the 3rd year constitutes of 9 months abroad (Embassies, Consulates, large corporations) or two terms in a foreign University.
- the 4th year is the year of specialising and finishing the dissertation.
- the 5th year allows the student to orientate their professional lives or research at the University, in this way preparing for their exams of category A (ENA, ENM, ENSP etc..).
The entrance exam is the same for the IEP in Aix, Lille, Lyon, Rennes, Strasbourg and Toulouse.
1100 places are available between the six IEPs.
The entrance exam for next year took place on the 2nd July 2010.
(Sciences Po. is a PUBLIC establishment and doesn’t advise any other preparation organisation apart from Tremplin-IEP).
The Exam
The general average obtained at Baccalaureate has a coefficient of 1.
It consists of 3 written exams over 7.30 hours.
1) A dissertation regarding a topical question: 3hrs (coefficient 3).
2) A dissertation regarding the history course in Terminale: 3hrs (coefficient
3).
3) A test on a modern language: 1h30 (No QCM) (coefficient 2).
N.B. There is also a French-German option for 20 students (half German/half French) with a very good level of German.
For any further information please visit: www.sciencespo-ix.fr
- Claude Symonds
Entrance Exam 10th March 2010: This year there were approximately 470 students who sat the entrance exam for Seconde in the International Section, of which the school can only take 90. More students had the level required than places available, so the dossier had to intervene in the final selection. Even then, it was with a heavy heart that we had to turn down a lot of excellent students.
A. Hackenheimer
Information regarding the construction of housing next to the Lycée: Following the news of the housing project next to the Lycée (230 flats, but talk of 300) the three parents associations of the Lycée have, with the Headmaster, talked to the Governors Board of the Lycée as well as the regional council and have written to the townhall of Aix to request a meeting to talk about the traffic problems, accessibility, parking and security in the surrounding area and transportation. The President of the PACA region has sent a letter to the Maire of Aix and we have also written to Mr Guérini, President of the Conseil General. We then attended a meeting on April 1st when he announced the construction of a collège next to the Lycée (600 students, opening in September 2014). We asked for a plan concerning the whole layout, taking into account conditions for the users (1500 students from the Lycée, 600 collège students, 3-400 personnel and 1000 new residents).
A steering group committee has been set up in association with the Conseil General, the Aix townhall and six people from the local area and the parents associations (Lycée, collège and school). The three parents associations from the Lycée are represented by Claire Hasan and Annie Respaud. The first meeting was held on May 12th. We have reiterated our request (already expressed in 2003) for a coherent syllabus between the collège and the lycée and for the need for an International Section in the collège. Mr Bénéfice (academic inspector) has replied that TWO collèges would feed the international section of Duby: Luynes and Mignet. We have also remembered the welcoming conditions of the international section (boarding or long distance journeys, by bus or car) and the importance of maintaining these.
Parents, CIQ and the Headmaster of Duby, have repeatedly drawn attention to future traffic problems, accessibility, parking, planning, transport and security, the importance of protecting the students from the sale of illegal substances, and the safety of the surrounding areas. A meeting with the Mairie of Aix (and the local community) will be held in June to talk about the construction of the housing and the consequences.
The next steering group committee will be held in September/October.
- Claire Hasan-de-Severac
Europeans: The musical “Europeans!” opened to a full house on May 11th at the Théâtre du Jeu de Paume and closed to a full house on May 20th at the Lycée Georges Duby. Enthusiastic congratulations have been pouring in. Two years of hard work for a few hours in the spotlight, was it worth it? I believe the cast and crew of “Europeans!” join me in saying, most definitely, YES!
A heartfelt thanks to all of you who supported our project. - Patricia Haillot
Meeting of the International Section, 21st May 2010: During a meeting at the Lycée, Madame Hackenheimer and teachers from the section met with the parents of the future Premiere and Terminale classes to give a presentation on the International section:
Out of 325 students, 52% are French, 27% are Bi-national and 21% are other nationalities. After Terminale, roughly 50% of the students study in different countries. A huge amount of work is done by the teachers of the section but also by AGESSIA whose help has become indispensable since the number of candidates is so large. They help the students choose their universities, write motivational letters, fill out forms, translate school reports, help with the UCAS forms, and help to maintain their oral levels etc… Certain universities consult the reports starting from 3eme up to the second term of Terminale. The end of inscriptions in the British universities is the 15th of January; 15th of October for Oxford and Cambridge which means that the Premiere students must think about their post-bac orientation and can’t wait until September to deal with it.
Changes in the OIB: The OIB has existed in France for thirty years and is becoming more and more recognised in other countries. Madame Hackenheimer reminded us of the importance of the English subjects in the OIB: they represent 40% of the total Literature bac (L) and Economic Science bac (ES) and 30% for the Scientific bac (S) and therefore need a lot of work. For English, the students have six books to study, 3 in Premiere and 3 in Terminale.
This year the “synoptic topic” was added which will be on the Victorian era. Seven poems and two books will be studied in class, the students shall then be questioned on this theme orally. Another novelty: a comparative essay of unknown documents. Madame Hackenheimer therefore wants to encourage the students to do personal research on the Victorian era. She reminded us that from the beginning of Premiere, the A and B groups are completely remixed and there is no longer any difference made between the students.
In History/Geography there are two written tests (two hours of History and two hours of Geography). The oral test is changing. The candidates shall be questioned on History AND Geography. Therefore they must revise both subjects without preference. Mr Gibbs wishes to alert everyone that certain aspects of the syllabus for Seconde and Premiere could be used in the Bac. He therefore advises the students to keep their notes from Seconde and to work regularly.
Finally, Madame Hackenheimer and her colleagues thanked the parents for their contribution to AGESSIA which must not be uniquely linked to the exams. As well as the activities mentioned earlier, AGESSIA buys educational material which benefits ALL the students of the International section. It is important that ALL the members of our educative community contribute to the section in the spirit of solidarity and generosity. - Claude Symonds
Cricket at the Lycee: On a balmy May evening, the first cricket match, of hopefully a yearly event, took place between the students and the teachers. During the year, Mr Lewis, Mr Reevy and Mr Coates have been teaching the students the fundamentals of this traditional English summer sport. A regular match can last many hours and often several days but the students were taught a version called ‘inter cricket’ whereby the batters play in pairs and each pair face 12 balls or 2 over’s. When the batter is OUT (by either a fielder catching the ball or the wickets are hit), his team loses 5 runs but the batter continues batting until he and his partner’s 12 balls have been bowled. Each team starts with 200 runs from which runs are added or deducted.
The students were sponsored for runs scored and wickets taken. The proceeds will be sent to a charity involved with the Haiti earthquake disaster. At the time of writing, it is not yet known how much money has been raised but we will let you know in the next Newsletter.
Both teams played very well in this very fast paced game and the score was so close that the scores had to be double checked but it in the end it was the students who beat the teachers by just a couple of runs. The teachers scored 244 runs and the students scored 251. The students were captained by Clint Walraven and the teachers by David Coates.
Thank you to all the students and teachers who took part in the match and to their vocal supporters. Thank you, also, to Geoff West who umpired the match and to the scorers Valerie Le Den and Ivana Babjakova.
Finally, thank you to Dave Lewis who initiated this project and hopefully it will continue as a yearly event. - Christine West
Bac Ball 2010: On Friday 28th May, around 400 students celebrated the Bac Ball in the magnificent Jardin D’Albertas. The weather was fine and the students looked splendid in their suits and evening dresses.
A group of students started off the evening with music and were followed by a professional orchestra for the dancing. The sit down meal was excellent and a glass of champagne accompanied the delicious chocolate dessert.
The two professional photographers worked the entire evening without a break, despite the cold which soon fell. There were numerous parent who helped out whilst remaining discreet! The Principal, Mr Bard was invited to dance as were the other teacher and administrative staff who were present. It wasn’t until late in the evening when everybody was leaving that the syudents realised that one part of their young lives had finished to leave space for one no less exciting.. the start of the next stage of their academic lives.
As in previous years, APELEVIA made a generous donation to the evening, to help this memorable event. - Christine Roncalez
History of Arts Reform for the year 2010/2011: Since the Lycée was opened, students have been very fortunate to be able to chose History of Arts as an option in 2nd, which in many cases continued through to Terminale and consequently became part of their Baccalaureate. This option, has been taught by 6 different teachers, headed by Mr. Esnault, all of which are motivated and passionate about their subjects. The option included literature, architecture, photography, cinema, art and sculpture.
We discovered that there would be changes to this option, in the new 2nde reform, planned for next year. The Lycée will be offering an option “Patrimoine”, which will be a lot less complete, offering only about 5 outings a year to visit sites as an introductory subject. APELEVIA alerted the FCPE and PEEP and asked them to join us in making our fears known to the Rectorate.
In spite of receiving many protest letters at the Rectorate, to date, we are alone in receiving a reply to our demand not to touch this option which will be completely devalued by this reform. We will continue to make our voice heard at the Rectorate and hope to bring this affair to a satisfactory conclusion.
- Valerie Le Den
Return of Books: After a meeting with Mme Lapostolle, Archivist of the Lycée, the administrative staff and the two other associations, we asked for volunteers to help with the return of school books from the 8th - 22nd June.
We are happy to note that many of you responded to our request and we would like to thank you all very much. - Claude Symonds
AGESSIA NEWS :
AixMUN 2010: Fourteen students represented the Lycée at the first Aix Model United Nations conference celebrated on March 5, 6 and 7, 2010. It was organized by the student organization AixONU of Aix Science PO and took place at l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques and the Mairie d’Aix-en-Provence. The walls were decorated with the flags of many nations, and the students dressed in business attire as delegates of the country they represented. The sole committee at this well organized conference was the committee on disarmament and international security. The intensive debates centered on the complex and difficult theme of the situation in Afghanistan. A wide variety of countries were represented by our lycée students and numerous university students. One of our students and debate club member, Joshua Morrison, won the Prix d’Honneur. The process was fluid and adhered strictly to formal rules of procedure although there were moments of fun and laughs. The presidency assured decorum the entire weekend which ended with a formal resolution. It was an excellent experience. Our students and the countries they represented were as follows:
Germany: Joris Brandt and Oliver Sieweke
Australia: Alice Symonds and Allison Bell
China: Natacha Morice and Lara Oliveau
Denmark: Ufuk Inci and Sofiane Bouazzaoui
Russia: Joshua Morrison
Iran: Mohammed El Boudi
Japan: Caroline Mercier and Fabien Le Den (previous lycee graduate)
Serbia: Laura Verbeke and Anciane Vitour - Valerie Le Den
Exchanges – Vintage 2009-2010!
Short-Term Exchanges: After a busy Autumn term organizing this year’s short-term linguistic and cultural exchanges with three prestigious schools from Canada, Australia and the United States, the combined efforts of AGESSIA staff and board members (volunteers) resulted in three short-term exchanges, including a brand new one, benefiting twenty one Seconde students from the English Section.
In March and April, students from Geelong Grammar School, Melbourne, and Appleby College, Oakville, Ontario, spent three weeks at our school, dividing their time between classes with their French partners, special « French as a foreign language (FLE) » classes given by teachers and workshops animated by an AGESSIA board member and sightseeing in the region thanks to our dynamic host families, to Ms. Babjakova, Comenius Assistant with the English Section and to AGESSIA board members. In June, a student from Palmer Trinity School, Miami, came and after a week at school, visited the region thanks to her host and other families from the Miami trip.
Over the Easter break, our Seconde students flew off to experience their exchange partners’ foreign and eye-opening cultures. They attended school, sometimes adapting to much stricter dress codes, discovered new subjects such as Photography, Textiles or Woodwork, and got a taste of laptop education (e-school)! They joined their partners in their extracurricular activities and shared family or boarding school daily routines, some enjoying, among other things, the fun of an American high school prom, an Australian football or American baseball game, visiting the Niagara Falls or eating Kangaroo meat!
The feedback from these exchanges has been very positive and we hope to renew them on a larger scale next year.
Seconde Long-Term Exchanges: For the first time, an academic and cultural immersion exchange was set up with Geelong Grammar School and Palmer Trinity School. In the first term, four Australian and two American students spent about 10 weeks with their exchange families and attending school full-time including extra FLE classes and workshops. AGESSIA organised two weekend trips, to Lyon and Paris, and several weekday cultural outings during their stay.
At the end of May, four students flew to Melbourne and are currently experiencing the same type of full cultural and academic immersion. The experience is extraordinary so far as witnessed by the students: Juliette says: “Geelong Grammar School has an amazing campus, where the philosophy of education is dynamic and open not only to academics, but also to sports, art, and music.”; Alexande says: “I have been quite surprised by the fact that people are very easy-going , and it is easy to make a lot of friends.”; and Morgane says: “On Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, sport is on… I personally play netball, (a kind of basket ball), and on Tuesdays and Fridays, we have activities. Here again, many are proposed, for instance knitting/sports/debating/ceramics/charities…”
The exchange to Miami will take place from mid-August to the Toussaint vacation of our students’ Premiere year and we will be sure to keep you up to date!
Our thanks goes to the Lycée Georges Duby administration and teaching body for their continued support of these enriching exchange programs and to our exchange partner schools for their trust and collaboration. Praise also goes to our students who understood their role as ambassadors of their high school! A photo album is within the English Section of the school website. - Helen Chayegan
AGESSIA: now has its own web site. It is still under construction at the moment, but you are invited to visit both the English and French versions as not all the pages are in both languages yet.
You can meet our active members, find out more about the Association, why it was created, what we do and and all sorts of useful information and reports. You will find us at: www.agessia.org
- Daniele Blake
DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES
We look forward to welcoming you all to the Garden Party at the end of September/beginning of October (date to be confirmed).
We would like to wish you all a very happy summer and look forward to seeing you in September.