FRBV26 CAE Share Joy : Preparing a welcome banner

The activity took place on the opening day of the hosting week in France, where we gathered in the school’s art studio to create two welcome banners for the Spanish and Romanian delegations scheduled to arrive later. The Irish students and the group from Guadeloupe—who had just completed an exhausting journey—were paired with their French pen pals and divided into two working groups. Our art teacher, Ms. Ruiz, introduced the project’s themes: a rainbow to symbolise diversity and a sky with clouds to represent their travels by plane. Using sketches on the blackboard as inspiration, the students first drafted their designs in pencil before working with various concentrations of gouache, carefully mixing pigments to achieve the necessary shades. Brushes and sponges were used to apply the paint across the long paper strips, and once the backgrounds were finished, the groups brainstormed and agreed upon their welcome messages. They traced these into bold capital letters on black Canson paper, meticulously cut them out with craft knives, and used hairdryers to speed up the drying process before gluing the letters in place. After a collective effort to tidy the workspace, the session concluded in a vibrant and relaxed atmosphere. Every student took an active role, using English as a common language to collaborate and bond, effectively building a shared group identity through this creative, hands-on experience.