Reflections from our French Assistant
We say a fond farewell to our French Assistant, Sarah Canivet, who joined Mary Hare this year and leaves us this term to continue her studies. She shares with us her experience of the past 8 months.
My 8 months at Mary Hare have been amazing and very formative. When I first learned that I’d be in a deaf school, I was a bit scared, I thought I might not be up to standard. I didn’t know how teaching a foreign language to deaf pupils would go, and I was scared they wouldn’t understand me because of my French accent. Turned out I was entirely wrong!
My colleagues were nice and supportive from the beginning, I was even invited to a trip to Marwell Zoo within the first few days, which allowed me to get to know some pupils and members of staff. I quickly realised that I could understand and communicate easily with everyone, whether deaf or not. I’m particularly proud of a few individual students who really improved and for the way in which they showed a real interest in my language. Also, I wanted to discover every aspect of Mary Hare. As it is a boarding school, I enjoyed finding out about the clubs, the evening activities and meeting people from all areas of the organisation. This is how I discovered Coles Diner and Kiri-Lynn! She invited me to help with several evening clubs, like the cooking club or the Boxing club. She also allowed me to take part in trips, even weekend residential trips, and it was really nice to do fun activities and games with the pupils and to discover who they truly were.
Mary Hare has been very good to me, and I hope I have managed to make a positive contribution! I was able to share my culture by cooking some French meals and by creating displays that I hope people enjoyed. I believe I have made real friends throughout the year, and I know I will never forget my few months here.
Thank you very much Mary Hare. Thank you to all the teachers and TAs, care staff and administration staff who have been so kind and helpful towards me all year.
I will miss you all!
Sarah CANIVET.
Thank you Sarah for your time with us, we wish you all the best for the future.