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Bastille Day |
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14 July 2009 |
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A gentle breeze teasingly played with the French flags at the front entrance of the school. The monsoon clouds shifted and the sun shone through to bathe our guests in sunshine as they arrived to help the SAI-oneers mark Bastille Day in SAI International School on 14 July 2009.
Every class had decorated a display board in their classroom with blue, white and red images and all the Kindergarten children donned colourful hats for the occasion. Waving handmade French flags at the special guests as they entered their class, they hesitatingly saying ‘Bonjour’, the French word for ‘Good Morning’.
 Bastille Day is the French national holiday, celebrated on 14 July each year. In France, it is called Fête Nationale ("National Celebration") in official parlance, or more commonly le quatorze juillet ("14 July"). It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789. The anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation, and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution.  We were lucky enough to have a few French guests visit our school to help the children share in this special day which meant a lot to them. Mrs Doreen Schnurr was the first to arrive at the school, shortly followed by Mr & Mrs Patrice Eyango, whose daughters study in SAI. Marion and Delphine, two French students working for an NGO in the city, also came to the school for the exhibition and special assembly.
 But first, the small group was treated to a performance of ‘Frere Jacques’ by a few students of Class I and Kindergarten II, accompanied on keyboards by their Music Teacher. The little children did extremely well singing in a language they do no know nor understand, save for Aurore Eyango.  A short tour of the Mahatma Gandhi block followed with our guests visiting children in their classrooms and seeing their display boards; then it was on to the Ashoka Hall where a special assembly had been prepared by the Class VIII, IX & XI students. All of our assemblies are special but this was even more so as the usual announcements were made in French by the students who have taken it as a language option.
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Starting off proceedings was Karran Pandey with his welcome speech in French, followed by the school prayer narrated in English by Nishita Baliarsingh, then the ‘Thought of the Day’ and ‘News Headlines’ conducted in French by Vishal and Vikram Sahoo.
Commerce students of Class XI put on a short skit of events leading up to the French Revolution and why this auspicious date is so important to the people of France. The narrative was very detailed and the short performance worthy of Bollywood heroes! Especially the poor ‘peasant’ who cried out “give me bread!” to the entertained crowd.
A short vote of thanks by Mr Patrice Eyango was followed by a speech from our Chairman, Mr BK Sahoo, who thanked all the students and staff for their efforts in making the exhibition and assembly possible.
 Children of Class IX & XI had learned the “La Marseilles”, the French National Anthem, and sang it with guests Marion and Delphine who had joined them on stage by request. The special assembly was closed with all children singing the Indian National Anthem before our guests were taken to view the exhibition of project work in the hall. |
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 Teachers had worked tirelessly to prepare the hall with a vast array of project work completed by the children. Whole boards dedicated to the history, science, geography and culture of France displayed a wealth of information to guests and children alike. Models had been completed of the Eiffel Tower and even a French village, together with posters of eminent French people in history and maps of the country. French children’s books had been kindly loaned by Bakul Foundation for our special ‘French Book Week’ and French jazz music added to the continental flair in the hall. It was truly a feast for the eyes and all classes have been timetabled to visit during the day and even take part in the specially prepared quiz to test their knowledge. |
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 The programme was not complete and as the guests were ushered into the Communication Lab, they were met by Subhadra Subudhi who gently guided them through her powerpoint presentation giving full facts of the French Revolution and how its true legacy was to afford Europe’s lower classes with the confidence, cause and motivation to change their country through rebellion. This historical tour through French culture was completed with coffee and croissants, a typical French breakfast, served just prior to the guests departing armed with red, white and blue bouquets presented by Kindergarten children.
 All in all, it was a wonderful day that the guests, teachers and children enjoyed a lot. Hard work and enthusiasm paid off and SAI-oneers contributed in so many ways to the success of the day. It is exactly through these types of events we intend to educate our children to embrace cultural diversity and prepare them as leaders of tomorrow, capable of performing on the world stage. |
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A big vote of thanks goes out to Bakul Foundation for the loan of the books and also to France based ‘ECL India Project’, who’s gifts of flags, books, perfume, maps, music and more helped bring their culture to life for our children. Their generosity was outstanding and we are very grateful indeed.
Merci et au revoir! |
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