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Primary schools in France are quite different to schools in England. Their days tend to be longer - a typical day might be from 8.30 til 4.30. French schools do, however, tend to have a longer lunch break (up to 2 hours).

Where would you prefer to be at school - in England or in France?

Given the weather, I thought I'd find a poem about snow in French for you. The author is unknown.

It is called 'Le Bonhomme de Neige' - bonhomme means 'fellow' or 'chap', de means 'of' and neige means 'snow'. Put them together and it's our equivalent of 'snowman'.

Some of you will understand words like 'blanc' (white), 'froid' (cold), 'tu' (you), 'je suis' (I am), 'qui' (who) 'hiver' (winter) and 'vent' (wind). See how much of it you understand, and then look at my translation underneath.

When The Sage came to Lingey House with their French production “La Chanson du Retour”, we were treated to beatboxes, breakdancing and amazing raps!

Children in Years 2 to 6 were transfixed as they watched the story of a girl in search of a magic song to help her to return home from some strange lands…

Some of our Y6s created Voki characters and gave them a French voice! A couple of them are a little shy and quiet, so you might have to listen very carefully. They created some unusual characters, including a dog and a beaver! Listen out to hear each character's name and age, and try to find out any other information they give, e.g. where they live, what they look like, their favourite colour, what pets they have, how many brothers and sisters they have, etc. etc..

Year 4 have been learning about how to say weather in French. We even made a French weather forecast! Can you use your knowledge of French to find these types of weather?

it is nice
it is awful
it is snowing
it is raining
it is sunny
it is windy
it is hot
it is cold

FRENCH WEATHER PHRASES:

il fait chaud
il fait du soleil / il y a du soleil
il fait du vent / il y a du vent
il fait froid
il neige
il pleut
il fait beau
il fait mauvais

(NB - I have added the phrases in italics, as we have had feedback from Monsieur Duval (a French speaker), that this is more commonly used nowadays (Merci, M. Duval!). Don't forget, children, languages are living things which are constantly evolving!)

You can check if you are right by looking at the bottom of the page.

Why don't you copy the phrases and do your own pictures to make a weather poster at home? Or, you could cut out the pictures and phrases, to display what the weather is like each day. Don't forget, to ask 'What is the weather like?' you say 'Quel temps fait-il?'

Merry Christmas! Joyeux Noël!

Did you know that French children don't have stockings for presents - instead, they put their shoes in front of the fireplace, so that Père Noël (Father Christmas) can fill them with presents! Children also find that sweets, fruit, nuts, and small toys are hung on the Christmas tree (le sapin de Noël) overnight.

Here are the names of Père Noël 's reindeer in French:

Exciting news! After half-term, we are very fortunate to be hosting 'The Sage' and 'Sing Up' for a production of 'La Chanson du Retour' (Years 2 to 6). This production is very special because it is all in FRENCH! To help us to understand it, we have a song to learn. The song is called 'Tape ton pied' and the words and song are below.