Author Archives: Jenny Léger

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About Jenny Léger

An English teacher working at a French university. Funology is my thing !!

Tour de France

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TDFThe TDF has been in the UK for the past two days and it seems everyone has gone mad, once again !!! What is it about the Brits that gives them this capacity to put on an event ?? I don’t know what it is, but I wish you could bottle it and sell it abroad !! And the wackiest things are going on – dyed lamas and sheep in the colours of the Tour jerseys, cheese sculpted into bike shapes … it is all so quirky and yes, so British !!TDF in the UK

Watching the finish in Harrogate yesterday, I apparently screamed when Mark Cavendish went down, although I still don’t remember doing it !! My family members were witnesses !! I so wanted him to win, along with all my fellow countrymen, I am sure.cav

My nephew, Jamie, is living the dream today. We were all brought up on a diet of bikes and cycle races as my Dad was a keen cyclist all through my “yoof”. Dad has passed the bug on to Jamie who is now 23. For a while Jamie worked in Halfords in their Bike Hut department and through contacts made there, he has been invited to follow the Tour around in a team car during the stages in GB. He is just in seventh heaven and we are all so pleased for him. Way to go, Jamie !!

I know how I shall be spending this wet Sunday afternoon. Watching the Tour de France on the TV in July is synonymous with the holidays for me. And as it is raining, I can’t be out in my deckchair, so this is a pretty good alternative !!

sunflower field

Summer time

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The summer holidays are almost upon us and today is my last formal planning meeting for next year. Exam results are out on Friday and so this marks the end of another school year cycle. I have been in the same school since September 1998, so that means this will be my 17th Rentrée in September. I have missed only one in all those years and that was when I was pregnant with Luke, now 13 !!

summerPersonally I adore this time of year, when the promise of two months of summer stretch out ahead of me. This month of July will be studious as I try to prepare as much as possible for the coming year. Nothing is removed from this blog but the ARCHIVES  section will get bigger as I have the big tidy-up !! New sections will appear as preparations get underway for next September. New classes, new challenges – today’s meeting will determine which groups and which classes I will be involved in at school. This will influence what new adventures will be happening in my professional life and reflected here and my other blogs.

The summer is, for me, a time to work my way down that reading pile that I love to make for myself. I have already finished three books since lessons ended in June, so now July is here, the serious stuff can begin. An eclectic mix this year, including The Fault in our Stars, Watership Down, The War Horses (a lovely coffee table book) and The Curious Incident of a dog in the night time (or some title like that). Some old favs will be revisited “The Boy in the Striped PJ’s” remains one of my greats ever. I shall be so busy reading that I shall wonder how I ever found time to go to work !! If anyone is looking for me and can’t find me, I shall no doubt be on my sun lounger under a shady tree somewhere in the garden with my book, a cool drink or a nice cup of tea and my iPod, catching up on my year’s work !! Don’t call me as I won’t hear you !!

Happy summer holidays to everyone reading this !!reading a book

St Philip Howard School, Barnham – well done !

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This article tells how a group of young people delivered a powerful message to 10 Downing Street today, insisting on the right to education for children across the world. Two of the kids selected to go to Downing Street were from our former partner school, St Philip Howard School in Barnham, West Sussex. For almost ten years, we ran an exchange between our school and theirs and I know my former pupils maintain links with some of their partners still today.

A special hello to Mrs Alison Baker, Assistant Head Teacher, who is behind this initiative and who ran the exchange with me – and who also happens to be one of my best friends and who helped me in my early years of teaching, back in 1989, when I was a rooky teacher in Angmering.

http://www.sendmyfriend.org/2014/06/young-campaigners-ade-adepitan-deliver-messages-10-downing-street/

Click on the link to read the full article. Great job, guys.

Fun

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I just saw this photo on Twitter and it took me a few moments to get it, but now, that I have got it, I am still smiling to myself about it. Just the sort of comment I like. I hope you enjoy it too.

portrait landscape

 

Rik Mayall

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If you are, like me, a kid who was a teenager in the 1980s, you cannot help but have been influenced by the absurdly politially incorrect TV series The Young Ones, that we all adored but our parents tried to stop us from watching !!RikMayall I felt so saddened tonight to learn that Rik Mayall aka Rik from The Young Ones, died this morning at the very young age of 56. This has made me go back over what I knew about him and what I remembered of his various roles. Blackadder remains a favourite but TYO has to top it all and in particular, the scene when TYO appear on University Challenge. Classic.

Some of the one-liners from the show became our stock reponses to anything said by anyone in an authority position. We must have driven our parents and teachers mad ! I honed my sarcasm skills through watching this TV series and my rather silly and over-the-top sense of humour. The relationship between Rik and side-kick Vyvyen was hilarious. rickvyvcouchSo, as a tribute to Rik, (yes we have a video) and as a reminder to those who remember, like me, how rude and outrageous he was, here is an obit article and a video, showing who it is I am talking about. And as I checked out some of my references before writing this post, I came across another of my favourites, which I use in class at least once a week and it is the legendary “Kevin’s ear”. Any Kevin that crosses my path is entitled to hear that on a regular basis. I had forgotten that it came from Rik Mayall (in my mind, I had thought it was a Harry Enfield number). I have enjoyed watching Kevin Turvey sketches this evening and I include one here, for ayone who might like to take a look. And to any Brummies who may be reading, I am loving the accent and thinking how happy I am not to talk like Kevin Turvey any more !!

Similarly whenever I have a Victor in my class, as  I invariably do, I love asking the question “Is Vic there ?” My humour is wasted on my pupils who don’t get it, but it keeps me amused. So, in memory of Rik Mayall and with thanks for the hours of fun and for the gift that just keeps on giving, in the form of Kevin’s Ear, please enjoy the following …

Rik Mayall Obit’

Delete all cookies

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I came across this picture today and it really made me smile. As someone who is about to embark on the mega clean-up of my PC, it did make me wonder how easy I would find it to delete all cookies ? Cookies, biscuits, chocolate – all deleted in one push of a button. Then what ? CTRL-Z ? Would that bring everything back again ?delet cookies