Fête de la poésie, the French-speaking world in the spotlight

On Saturday March 23, the Lycée Denis Diderot held its Poetry Festival. Our pupils from CM1, CM2 and 6ème took to the stage to recite poems, accompanied by students from English-speaking schools. This event is the result of several weeks’ work by our teachers. It took place in several phases.

First of all, our classes welcomed – on Wednesday, March 6  – classes fromBrookhouse school Karen for CM1, The Nairobi Academy for CM2 and from Brookhouse Runda for sixth graders. During this first meeting, groups of students – made up of two LDD students and two external students – took part in several voice and body workshops on different texts : first a virelangue, then a tableau. It was an opportunity for the students to get to know each other, and to learn from each other. At the end of these workshops, 12 groups were selected for the Poetry Festival. 

A second meeting was held on Wednesday March 20, during which the selected groups practiced putting the poems selected by the teachers into voice and body. The students received support from teachers, both from the LDD and from outside schools, to improve their performance and presentation. 

Finally, on Saturday March 23, all the students got together to celebrate French-language poetry. All the groups took to the stage to present their work to their teachers, fellow students and parents. We were also lucky enough to welcome Mr. Bernard Clouteau – French Cooperation Attaché – and Claudia Scherer-Effosse – Director General of the AEFE network – who presented our students with their participation diplomas. 

Here’s a look back at the morning’s events.