Towards the end of the school holidays, ten year 10 students from across France touched down at Tullamarine airport, marking the beginning of a three-month linguistic and cultural exchange in Mansfield.

Greeted by several host families from the Mansfield Rudolf Steiner School, the students then began the journey up into the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, or in some cases, out to the Otways for a forest camping experience before the school term began in earnest.

With many of the students hailing from the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region of France, the mountainous landscape would have felt familiar upon arrival, with eucalypts and kangaroos replacing the pines and dairy cows of their homeland.

The Breton peninsula and the equestrian-loving region north of Paris are also represented amongst the group of French students, who will undoubtedly enjoy the passion for fine produce and horse-riding shared between our region and their own.

For their second week in Mansfield Shire, the ten French students have been camping out on a bush block in the foothills of the Strathbogies, accompanied by their Australian host students, a class of 14 from Mansfield Rudolf Steiner School.

They have been surveying the topography of the area using a range of specialised equipment, whilst also finding time to paint the landscape ‘en plein air’, and engage in discussion of French and Australian politics, all the while switching between English and French.

This experience is bound to bond these students to each other, improving their capacity to communicate in each of their respective languages, and helping to create life-long connections.

Term three will see 10 of our students heading off to France with their French student, spending several months living and studying in their student’s village, completing the second half of the reciprocal exchange.

As the young French men and women progress with their English, and the Steiner students improve their French, they will be seeking to immerse themselves in the active cultural and social life of our town, and you are sure to see them around.

So if you happen to come across some Year 10 students conversing in ‘Franglais’ (a mix of French and English) in the supermarket or down the street, don’t hesitate to greet them with a hearty ‘bonjour’.