Anne Kershaw

Anne Kershaw

Poetry Contest... and the winner is...

6 April 2019, 12:05 pm

The 5th Annual France edition of the ELSA Poetry by Heart Contest took place this last month, on March 23rd. After our own in-house Aseica contest in December, two level winners were discerned: 3e candidate Emily Cart-Grandjean from César, and 2e candidate Lemba Soldini from the LIV. Both candidates were invited to Paris to compete in the France finals.The finals took place at Ecole Jeannine Manuel. The contest this year was graced with the high profile presence of the UK organisers, Tim Shortis and Julie Blake, who were extremely supportive, and thankful for international support of the project. Over 40 candidates from 15 OIB, IB and bilingual schools from across France performed their poems, many of which were outstanding. Both of our contestants, Lemba and Emily, gave superb performances, full of maturity and sensitivity. The competition was extremely tough… despite this, ASEICA is very proud to report that this year’s overall winner was Emily!! 

An immense BRAVO to her!

 

 

Stay tuned at the rentrée in September for news about next year’s contest!

G Bethell

Coordinating Teacher, ELSA Poetry Contest

 

Theater experience in London

3 April 2019, 6:31 am

Twenty 2nde students went to London for a wonderful theater experience, accompanied by Ms Yuill and Mrs Bethell. We stayed at St Paul’s Youth Hostel, an ideal location in central London. The trip is aimed at giving students an immersion into a variety of theatrical genres, from comedy to West End musical to more classical drama.This year we saw a fabulous new musical about identity, Everyone’s talking about Jamie, an hilarious slapstick Comedy about a Bank Robbery, an Arthur Miller play, set during the great depression, The American Clock, and finally a mixed media piece performed in the Natural History Museum, The Wider Earth, which told the story of a young Charles Darwin, through acting, puppetry and projections, using a revolving set. In addition to our theater visits, the whole group took part in two days of exciting workshops with a Director and Choreographer from The Anna Fiorentini Theatre and Film School. During the full day workshops the students learned group choreographies and devised an innovative piece of dance/drama based on the story of Jekyll and Hyde. They gave a fantastic performance at the end of the two days. We also managed to fit in a visit to Goldsmiths University, including a drama workshop, campus tour and Q & A session. Other activities were a walk along the Thames to The Globe Theatre, where we saw an exhibition and demonstrations of sword fighting and how to wear Elizabethan costumes. The trip was a huge success and the students who took part commented it was “incredible”, “memorable”, “amazing” and the “best trip ever”.

The theatre trip for 2ndes has been running for seven years, and long may it continue!

Kirsty Yuill, ASEICA theatre 

(Trip from the 19-23 February, 2019)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

25 March 2019, 1:10 pm

The ASEICA lycée theatre production, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, was performed on the 12th and 14th of March 2019. In addition to these two evening performances, 5ème students from the different collèges attended the dress rehearsal and there was a performance to all 2nde students on the Tuesday afternoon as well. I chose to produce this play this year because, besides being a text all our students study in 5ème, it is a fun, fast paced story of LOVE, CONFUSION and MAGIC. It also has quite a large cast of 21 characters: there are the Athenians, four young lovers, the mechanicals (a group of workers rehearsing a play) and the fairy world, reigned over by the King and Queen of the fairies. Rehearsals took place every Wednesday afternoon and some Saturdays.

The actors, all from our lycée, played their roles magnificently, speaking Shakespeare’s language fluently with understanding and conviction. The group also worked hard on mastering the comedy and creating exciting, quirky characters.There was great music by Ms Syran who modernized Mendelssohn's melodies and created additional songs using Shakespeare’s original text for the different character groups. The fairy group had a punk/rock feel, the mechanicals a hippie feel; this was also reflected in their costumes and make up. Mr Duffy and his tech crew created and constructed a fabulous set; Athens was reflected as a white world of order with neon blue lights and the ‘magic forest’ was reinterpreted as an urban jungle, of graffiti, platforms on different levels with ladders, old tyres and oil drums.

The tech students worked hard to create some wonderful visual effects with fluorescent paint and UV light.The show demanded energetic performances from all the actors and culminated in a chaotic rave scene with singing and dancing, for our finale.The play appealed to audiences of all ages, who were all very complimentary and enthusiastic about the talent of our young performers and this dynamic production.

Well done to all involved!

Kirsty Yuill, ASEICA Lycée Theatre Director

Some extracts .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_f2PH3rkaY

 

A Cross-Phase Writing Project

14 March 2019, 12:52 pm

On January 21st, Mrs. Jones’ 5emes came down to the Sartoux primary school, to visit Mrs. Guez’s CM1 class. They were paired up and the 5eme students interviewed the CM1s in preparation for a creative writing project. The goal was for the 5emes to gather enough information on their younger partners to make them the main characters in their stories. They worked hard to complete their stories and the results were impressive! It was later the CM1s’ turn to visit the 5emes in their classroom at the CIV. The reading session was a tremendous success. Mrs. Jones’ class proudly shared their stories. The CM1s were thrilled to find themselves as the main characters. Some traveled through time, others battled evil dragons!All were impressed and congratulated the 5emes for their wonderful work!

Mrs. Jones & Mrs. Guez

 

 

Mougins School Speaker : Nick Danziger

25 February 2019, 3:48 pm

Mougins School Motivational Speaker Series - Nick Danziger, February 28th at 19:00.

Nick Danziger is a prize-winning photographer and journalist who's lived in the world's most remote places as well as most ‘mondaine’ spots. He has photographed world leaders and seemingly forgotten people. He has so many stories and tales to tell, has given TED talks and has been invited to conferences all over the world.

A student theater production

21 January 2019, 7:16 pm

With the help of the Aseica Theater Department, Philomène Cheynet, Tle student, is producing and acting in her own play. “Listen to the Nightingale» is a dramatic one-act about the military dictatorship in Argentina in the 1980s. The other actors are Ryan Lamy (1ère), Eivind Soerum (Tle), Annabel Duport (1ère), and Lily Hill (1ère).

The show will take place in the (renovated!) cinema Alma on Monday February 4th at 19h30.  

Entrance is free but donation to the Unicef are welcome.

 

 

 

On December 13th, Mrs Guez’s CM1s and Mrs Richie’s CM2s of Sartoux went on a class trip to the Musée National Du Sport. They are pleased to share their comments with you…

 

  • “When we arrived, we saw a biggggg nest! It was actually the Allianz Riviera stadium which was built in the shape of the nest to house the Aiglon, mascot of the OGC Nice.” (Marie & Agathe)
  • “One of the first things we did was discover the press room. This is where the football players get interviewed by the journalists. We re-enacted a press conference and had to answer questions about why our team played so badly. It was really funny!” (Felix, Jules and Hugo)
  • “Guess what we did next? We turned into famous players and got to go where no one is allowed to go…The Locker room! We even touched Hugo LLoris’s brother’s football jersey. Oh and also Ballotelli’s! and their seats were sooooo comfortable! “(Alicia & Fanny)
  • “In the locker room, there’s a work out room. It was full of super high-tech equipment. Our class acted like the players warming up for a match by doing push-ups. We also saw 2 pools that the players use for relaxation. One is 6 degrees and the other is 36 degrees! The players jump from one to the other. They must have so much fun!” (Dexter, Tobias & William)
  • “Visiting the bird’s nest (the stadium) was really cool and fun. Too bad we couldn’t go on the field. The grass had to stay fresh and clean for the players. Did you know that the stadium has 36 178 seats? It’s hard to imagine that so many matches and concert happened right here. (Anais & Ava)
  • “We then went to visit the VIP rooms! Rich people rent them to watch the match while being in a warm and fancy place. They even have their own terrace! We went out on to the terrace and acted like enthusiastic spectators. We screamed and did the wave! “(Sasha & Eva)
  • “By the time lunch came, we couldn’t wait to devour what was in our lunchboxes. We then had some free time to play. We split up into three groups. One played British bulldog, one played football and the third did gymnastics. All very sporty! “(Matt, Theodore & Raphael)
  • “Sports time continued. The guide organized many activities for us to do. We tested our strength, reactivity, flexibility, coordination and endurance. “Ouch!” The invisible chair task was really tough. “I can’t take this anymore! I quit!” When we stopped, our legs were literally shaking! The other tasks seemed easier after that one!” (Katiana, Chiara & Charlotte)
  • “Finally, it was time to visit the sports museum. It was really interesting. Our extraordinary visit began with a time line of biking as a sport. We soon understood that the whole museum showed all the sports from their beginnings up till now. The first tennis dresses were weird! We also saw loads of cool Olympic torches. Some were the real ones not copies!(Maya, Lily, Tiphaine and Saya)
  • “We had a great day! The best part was definitely the locker rooms. We were really lucky to be able to go on this amazing trip. We had a perfect ‘sporty’ time…even if by the end, we had cramps all over!” (Ela & Nandi)


 

 

Digital Theatre Membership

13 December 2018, 2:01 pm

This year our lycée students and teachers will have online access to many valuable resources and play productions connected to syllabus texts in 2nde, 1ère, and Tle, via the site Digital Theatre.  

English teachers will soon be informing students about accessibility and availability. When that happens, pull up a chair, make some popcorn, and enjoy an intense performance of, for example, The Crucible (2nde), A Doll's House (1ère), or The Tempest (Tle)! 

Kristi Defrasne, Head of Lycée English

 

Poetry-by-heart contest

19 December 2018, 12:00 pm

This is the first year our students had the opportunity to enter the Poetry-By-Heart international poetry recitation contest, with our school competition taking place on November 30th. Congratulations to all students who participated. They were completely absorbed in their poetry and the afternoon was a compelling mix of academic understanding and theatrical performance. A special congratulations to our two winners will attend the national finals in Paris in March:  

  • Lemba Soldini in 2nde for her performance of "Song of the Smoke" by W.E.B. Dubois
    Emily Cart-Grandjean in 3ème at César for her performance of "The Stretcher Bearer" by Tommy Crawford.  
  • Runners-up were Louis Browne in 2nde for "The Chimney Sweeper" by William Blake and Aurélie Gallet in 3ème in ColIV for "The Song of the Mud" by Mary Borden.

Students were awarded points for Voice, Understanding, Performance, and Accuracy. The judges were Mrs. Collord, Mrs. Defrasne, Mr. P. Jackson, and Mrs. Massé. Many thanks to Mrs. Bethell for organizing the project and to Mrs. Yuill for coaching. The contest will be renewed in September 2019.

Kristi Defrasne, Head of Lycée English

 

At César College, a newsletter is born

25 November 2018, 4:33 pm

The 1st edition of the ‘Cesar News’ has been published by a group of students. In this 12-page publication, written entirely in English, you will find a large variety of articles including Brevet results, sports, cooking recipes, history, crosswords, jokes and much more.

Congratulation to the reporters, editors, the IT teams and the teachers on this initiative.

Click here to read the brand new issue of ‘Cesar News’: http://aseica.org/images/aseica/pdf/Cesar News.pdf