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| Andrew Burlton, British Council; Julia; Richard Bower, MAABN |
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| Sir Peter Ricketts |
Dear Charlie,
As you know, we were invited by the MAABN to participate in the reception they organized in the presence of the British Ambassador, Sir Peter Ricketts.
Mrs. Marquerie, Julia, Quentin, Beverly and I went to represent our Section
It was a wonderful evening. We heard a lot of fascinating speeches and afterwards at the cocktail we were able to mingle and chat with many interesting people.
Julia was aked to sit at the speakers' table to speak on behalf of our school and our Section and thus represent International Education in Marseille Provence.
She did a splendid job. She was congratulated by all. Here is her speech below.
“I have been
asked to talk about my experience in the OIB. OIB
stands for Option Internationale du Baccalauréat. It is the British International
Option adding A level standard studies in English Literature and
History-Geography to the normal French baccalaureate.
The OIB
option started in September 2013 at Lycée St Charles, Marseille. There were
only 12 of us.
I personally
am very happy to be part of it because it is an ideal situation for me. I am
both English on my father's side and French on my mother's side. I have always
lived in France. This section is giving me the opportunity to have a double
certification, accepted by universities on both sides of the Channel. It also enables
me to discover the literature of the two different cultures that I belong to. I
am very happy I don't have to choose a “side”.
When you are a student in a British International Section, you get the
better part of both worlds.
You prepare and take the French “baccalauréat” but also the IGCSE and
the OIB exams.
We are constantly working with 2 languages and 2 pedagogies, within 2
cultures and 2 school systems. On a daily basis, we can go from a regular
French class taught in French the French way to an OIB class taught in English
in an Anglophone style. That is to say, we learn to be equally comfortable with
a French “dissertation” and an English-style essay
We benefit from the rigorous French mindset and the more personal
English approach.
Besides, the
OIB takes a different approach from the French education system.
For instance
we have several clubs. In the drama club, which is run by Mrs. Choffrut, we
practice improvisation. We also have a book club. The books for it are chosen
by a reading committee made up of students. In the cinema club we go to see
English language films outside of school, they are very often classics and then
we discuss them. There is also the debate club where students prepare to
participate in the mock United nations. Finally there is a science club created
and run by Quentin where we do fun experiments.
Thanks to
this we have started to view school in a different way, where we can express
ourselves more freely in class and outside of
class. The French system doesn't (or very rarely ) gives opportunities
to have “fun” activities in the school context.
Finally, in our small OIB section, we only have one class, we are like a
family. Everyone is committed and we rely on each other.
I am really
thankful to the whole teaching team because I have some difficulties with
writing, being dyspraxic but the teachers of the Oib have always supported me.
The fact that they chose me to speak about the OIB section today is proof of
that.”
