The children at Labeuvrire school worked very hard to prepare for our Scottish afternoon.

 

In the weeks leading up to this, the CM1 and CM2 class learned 2 different traditional Scottish dances, « the gay gordans » and « strip the willow ». We learned these in stages and practiced with traditional Scottish music. The children found it hilarious when I explained that the men always wear kilts at celebrations such as weddings, parties, or ceilidhs.

Every class also prepared different Scottish cakes and treats. As these recipes were in English, we worked together to understand the instructions and pieces of vocabulary for the ingredients. The children in the maternelle class made shortbread, the CP and CE1 made fruit scones. The CE2 class made some oat based biscuits. However, by far the favourite was the CM1/CM2 class’s « Dundee cake ». We discovered that this cake comes from the city of « Dundee », famous for its marmalade, also found in this sweet treat!

 

The celebration included a continuous slideshow of pictures of the beautiful Scottish highlands, castles and main attractions. The children also had the great surprise of meeting a « piper »! He brought his Scottish bagpipes, playing famous songs from my home. He even let some of the children try and play the instrument, proving you must have a really strong set of lungs to even make a sound! To finish the evening the CM classes presented their Scottish country dances and sang the English Christmas songs that we had been working on.

Overall, the show was a huge success, bringing a bit of my home to life in Labeuvrire.