Last Friday, the school celebrated a long-awaited event, the feast of St. Martin.
All the children at the elementary school worked hard both to keep their lanterns secret and to make them as beautiful as possible.
The kindergarten children chose nature and the forest as their theme, and made magnificent little animals – ladybugs, hedgehogs, rabbits and squirrels – while the older children, after reading and learning all about pirates, became adventurers themselves and set about creating their most beautiful lanterns.
Special attention was paid to the original lanterns built by the CM1 classes.
The children put all their skills to good use, making torches from real, salvaged branches that they had to cut to size themselves.
Then they had to work out the best way to place real candles inside.
In the end, a splendid ecological torch was presented to everyone and, together with the rest of the lanterns, lit up the night.
The race started at 5pm.
Parents and children alike made their way through the classrooms to discover and admire the lanterns and classroom decorations. The surprise was not only for the parents, but also for the children, as the classrooms were decorated without their participation.
In the end, everyone was treated to a wonderful mix of moods, music, colors and shapes.
After collecting their lanterns, parents and children gathered around the impressive fire built by our hausmeister to relive the scene where Martin generously offers half his cloak to a poor man freezing in the cold.
The German language teachers, children and parents, accompanied by the brass band, sang traditional songs.
At the end, everyone enjoyed a slice of the traditional brioche
(Weckmann)
and a hot drink, and share some time with other parents, giving the children a chance to play together, run around and show off their lanterns to others.
We thank all the teachers for their work with their pupils, the children and parents for this moment of sharing, and we look forward to the next festivities when we’ll be together again.
