You have only recently joined Le Sallay, can you tell us a bit more about yourself?

I am based in Hastings on the East Sussex coast overlooking the English channel, where I have lived with my partner and my 9-year-old son since 2018. As the crow flies, the Kent and Sussex coast is more or less as close as I can get to France whilst being as far away from London!

I am a graduate of French, European Literature, and Cultural Studies from Royal Holloway, University of London, and a qualified teacher of Secondary French from the University of Exeter. I also have a Master's degree in Digital Documentary from the University of Sussex. I am currently in the continuation year of my Doctoral studies in Film at the University of Kent in Canterbury where I am writing up my thesis on the geographic and thematic links between the cinema of Paris and the banlieue and a classic of 20th-century French literature, Voyage au bout de la nuit.

I took a break from studying last year to return to teaching at Battle Abbey School, an independent school on the historic site of the Battle of Hastings which the Normans invaded in 1066. I thought it was appropriate to teach French on the site of the location which played such an important role in the development of the English language.

In joining Le Sallay at the Chateau, you could say that I have traveled from castle to castle! Right after joining the team, you found yourself in the midst of an onsite session. What are your first impressions?

I immediately found Le Sallay to be a really friendly, welcoming school, both staff and students alike. Le Sallay is unlike any school I have experienced before with a clear focus on the education, welfare, and well-being of its students. My background as a teacher is in both UK State and Independent sectors and whilst I have a year’s experience teaching at International House London, I have never taught in the kind of small, family-oriented environment that Le Sallay offers its international students. I found it to be immediately refreshing and liberating.

The blend of staff roles makes for a very wholesome and supportive network and there is a real focus on the individual. I have already had some productive conversations with other teaching staff about how we can collaborate on the next on-site session with team-teaching projects and there are some exciting plans!

Our students come from different countries, but they all share English as a lingua franca. What do you find most challenging in teaching French to English speakers?

There are different approaches to teaching foreign languages, each with its own merits depending on the context. The communicative approach seeks to immerse students in the target language, providing them with a toolkit to navigate lessons entirely in French. This is an excellent approach to teaching languages to international learners for a teacher who is a native speaker as it makes the language accessible to all nationalities and abilities.

However, as you rightly point out, our students all share English as lingua franca, which is also my native language, therefore this approach becomes less significant in this context - I can replicate a native speaker in class but it will never seem as authentic or natural as a native speaker!

Therefore, rather than conduct lessons entirely in French, I have chosen to use the Situational approach for this context as it allows me to facilitate the use of the target language for key situations that can be built towards whilst maintaining that authenticity of mutual connection I have with students through English. This is also the approach I have used in teaching modern foreign languages at schools in the UK with success. Having said that, I’m still adapting to online teaching which has taken priority in the first week! The advantage of the situational approach in blended learning environments is that it speeds up the learning process immensely.

What are the three most important things for you in teaching a foreign language?

It is important to find ways to engage learners by making the language focus relevant to them as individuals as well as bringing the world and culture of the language to life in the classroom where possible. Equally, I am a strong believer in authenticity in the classroom and situational language needs to be authentic as well as relevant otherwise it will seem redundant and arbitrary.

Finally, positive reinforcement and timely, constructive feedback are essential to fostering a culture of learning that is productive and allows for steady incremental progress.

What advice would you give parents on how they can support children during online study periods?

Firstly, it is important for parents to be aware of the scheme of work, the project-based learning we are doing and supporting children with the weekly homework assignments that I have begun to set in line with these.

Homework provides children with an opportunity to practice the language areas studied in a creative way and to show what they can produce outside the constraints of the digital classroom. If these opportunities are not taken advantage of then progress will be slower so it would be great if parents could encourage their children to complete homework to the best of their abilities and discourage the use of online translators for written work!