Students will spend three weeks with French friends (From Witney Gazette)

Students will spend three weeks with French friends

12:10pm Friday 9th March 2007 in Witney By Tim Hughes

YOUNG people in West Oxfordshire are forging a new 'entente cordiale' with their French cousins, as part of a new cross-Channel artistic venture.

The project involves 20 pupils from Chipping Norton School and 20 more from a youth centre in Normandy.

The 40 young people will work and live together for three weeks during the summer holidays, learning and developing skills in performance, music technology and composition, filming, and circus.

The pupils will spend a week in Chipping Norton and in the town of Breteuil.

They will learn to live and work together, cook and share meals, and explore each others' towns. They will also spend time in Brussels and at the Edinburgh Festival.

They will prepare visits by conferencing over the Internet. Their time together will also be recorded with a video diary, which will reflect cultural differences as seen through both English and French eyes.

They will then make a short film, documenting their experience. The English students will then return to France in November for a film festival - which will include their film.

As part of the project, Chipping Norton School will be building two digital arts studios - one for recording music and one for film and photographic editing. Students will also undertake 20 hours of training in film, French language, and music.

Funding for the project, which costs just over £65,000, comes principally from Chipping Norton School, the Government, and the West Oxfordshire Network LEADER+ programme - a partnership of local businesses, government, and community organisations.