Staff Erasmus+ programme to Fort-de-France, Martinique
In September 2022, Oide Murray and Oide Reid went on a two-week observation internship to our Erasmus+ partner school Lycée Schoelcher, Fort-de-France, Martinique, West Indies. One of the school’s science teachers, Mme Vallerie Telle, spent two weeks at LCC in March 2019 and invited our teachers to come and visit.
The hospitality of all staff and students at the lycée was exceptional. The visiting teachers observed computer science, maths, science, drama and language classes and met with administrators, management and student council members. During those meetings good practice of teaching and learning in both the French and Irish educational system were compared and discussed.
The teachers took home ideas for cross-curricular teaching with focus on maths, computer science and science. They were very impressed by a Créole class that got together with their peers from a Latin class and looked at similarities between the two languages. The facilities of the newly built school campus in the heart of Fort-de-France, overlooking the Caribbean Sea, have great potential for a student-centred teaching and learning of excellence. It will also provide opportunities for the future to keep the well-being of students and staff at heart. Lycée Schoelcher, with its state-of-the-art theatre to soccer pitches on top of the gym, hang-out areas for students such as a student cafeteria and library, is an amazing school to attend.
Oide Murray and Oide Reid returned to LCC with a bag full of prospective pen-pals’ letters and many ideas for future Erasmus+ projects between the two schools, which include not only French learners, but also students and staff from the drama and performing arts department as well as maths, English, science and computer science classes. In their spare time, the two teachers got to know the culture and beauty of this magnificent island and sampled traditional Créole food.