A British Day at Talbot House
Are you on the look-out for an immersive British experience to offer your pupils? Perhaps you fancy:
- starting the day by enjoying a hearty English breakfast
- exploring Shakespeare or Kipling in an interactive workshop
- chit-chatting with our British wardens on dear old Blighty
- basking in the sunshine while enjoying afternoon tea with scones in our glorious English garden
- making up your wartime romance by writing your own whirlwind love letter
Explore British culture on your very doorstep! Leave your international passport in the drawer and meet us at the Every Man’s Club in Poperinge. Founded in 1915 as an oasis of peace for the Tommies, today it very much remains a British home in Flanders Fields. The House is run by voluntary wardens from across the Commonwealth who are always available for a chinwag and a genuine cup of British/English tea.
Make it a perfect day. Select your preferred workshops from our extensive offer, covering the four skills at various educational levels. Our British guides, our actress and available English teachers have extensive experience in their specific fields of expertise. Although visiting teachers will be involved in all the activities with their classes, no extra preparation is required. We offer complete ready-made educational packages. All of this with an extra whiff of Britishness thrown in.
The experience is aimed at second and third grade pupils of secondary education who will be expected and encouraged to speak in English irrespective of their level - at all times. We will help to correct students' English, but this is not our main object. The ultimate idea is for students to communicate using the language skills they have and at the same time open up the opportunity for them to further develop their command of the English language. Differentiation is possible between groups. But within every group, it remains our object to involve all pupils and offer them fresh opportunities during each and every of the sessions.
So, doubt no more, Haste ye to Pops, the kettle is on…
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Practical organisation:
Teachers are invited to select workshops from the list below. A typical day comprises of four workshops with themed breaks in-between.
We expect teachers to divide their pupils into groups of 20 pupils at a maximum, plus at least one member of staff. We can organise workshops for 40, 60 and 80 pupils at the most. We can offer selected workshops for any number of groups. For instance four groups of 20 pupils can select four different workshops, which can then be switched round on completion.
- 9:15 Optional: English Breakfast
- 10:00 Reception in the Concert Hall with a short briefing outlining the day and a cup of tea
- 10u15 Workshop 1
- 11u15 Break with British garden games
- 11u30 Workshop 2
- 12u30 Lunch break with sing-song on the wartime piano. Bring your own picnic, or alternatively lunch can be provided by Talbot House.
- 13u30 Workshop 3
- 14u30 Afternoon tea-break with scones
- 14u45 Workshop 4
- 15u45 Rounding-off and departure
Half-day programmes can also be provided.
Rates are about 21 EUR per pupil but depend on the group size and the workshops opted for. We are happy to offer you a tailored price quote and programme. Teachers take part free of charge in all workshops. In case you are a local school, further reductions are available through a subsidie from the County of West-Flanders.
What better way to start the day than with a full English Breakfast? This optional extra can be added on to any programme for 9 EUR per person. This kind of breakfast includes fried eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beans, tomato and toast served in a buffet style. Did we mention marmalade and HP sauce yet? On the spot commentary will be provided, ‘spiced’ with typical vocab on food and eating traditions in the UK.
Bookings
Please fill out this enclosed document for and e-mail us for an exact quote.
Workshops:
- Level: advanced
- Info: this workshop focuses on the importance of vocal skills while performing Shakespeare. Students will be taught various techniques to warm up their voice and will explore skills to discover different vocal qualities. They will experiment with personal intentions (e.g. how one character is trying to influence another), and will experience how vital it is to use their voice correctly, in order to communicate more than just Shakespearean phrases?/words to an audience. By the end of the workshop, students will better understand an extract from The Tempest and will have worked in teams to transform it into their very own radio play. If time allows, they can even perform their play in front of the group/class.
- Level: medium
- Info: this workshop encourages students to work as a team as they 'travel across the UK', exploring the country’s different foods and traditional dishes. Will they complete the challenge before time is up? This workshop includes taste-testing some British snacks and sauces and the opportunity to ask the British facilitator questions about anything food-related. What better way to practice your English than through theatrical/drama games with a British theatre professional? This workshop is designed as a relaxed and playful way to refresh English vocab. We will set up the workshop as a safe space to try new things supported by the rest of the class.
3. Against the clock – drama workshop (*)
- Level: intermediate
- Info: working under time-pressure, students must complete a range of challenges as a team. Every student will take on at least one challenge so that their group may accomplish the whole range of tests. The extra challenge? No Dutch allowed! In this workshop, every student has their moment to speak out in front of the group. We support the more confident students in the group encouraging and helping the shyer students as all are aware of the importance of addressing each challenge. If the team manage to complete all the set challenges, solve the clues and open the padlocks, they may keep/take home? the surprise hidden in the last box!
4. Tales of Talbot House – story tour
- Level: adaptable – listening comprehension
- Info: join/meet one of our native English speakers for a story tour through this authentic soldier’s club. As we make our way through the history of Talbot House, we quote from the memoirs of Tubby Clayton, the founding father. Experience the atmosphere and discover its colourful history through witty sayings and funny anecdotes.
5. A chinwag with the wardens
- Level: adaptable – speaking
- Info: enjoy a cup of tea with our resident British wardens. Our volunteers come from all parts of the UK (and even the Commonwealth) and from all walks of life. With the help of a question sheet, we get the conversation going. Question may range from… Which football team do you support? Why do you come and work at Talbot House? Which British bands do you like? Who better to ask about current British topics, history, culture than our British volunteers.
6. Laugh and the world will laugh with you - British Comedy
- Level: medium
- Info: in this interactive session students will be presented with the elements that make up British humour. The focus of this PPT presentation is on how this sort of humour differs from their own and why. All of these elements will be illustrated by way of genuine examples taken from various ‘native’ sources. Clips will be shown from sitcoms, jokes will be told, pun and wordplay will be explained, and British comedians will be presented using their own unique form of humour. Because of the nature of this topic and the at-times challenging language, this session is best suited to higher classes.
- Level: intermediate – listening comprehension and writing
- Info: Geoff and Edith only met each other four times in real life before the Great War took Geoff to Flanders. After watching video recordings of a number of their extraordinary love letters, the pupils are encouraged to write a reply back and fantasise their own end to this poignant love story.
- Level: advanced - combining reading comprehension with digital skills
- Info: after an appropriate introduction to Talbot House, pupils make their way through Talbot House in small groups. With the help of their smartphones and a questionnaire, they set out on an interactive literary quest, finding references to literature, humour and linguistics on their way. After all, Tubby had quite a way with words.
Note: alternatively, the same tour is possible on a medium level, focussing on art, architecture and religion.
- Level: medium - combining reading comprehension with digital skills
- Info: after an appropriate introduction to Talbot House, pupils make their way through the permanent exhibition in pairs. Through exploring the museum tablets and the collection, they are able to answer the quiz questions (one of several examples here) on the history of Talbot House during the previous century.
- Level: intermediate – combining reading comprehension with digital skills
- Info: after an appropriate introduction to Talbot House, pupils explore the exhibitions at their own pace. Their quest is to find hidden clues related to the history of Talbot House while picking up new vocab along the way.
(*)Note: all drama workshops are offered by native speaker and professional actress Abbie Moore, founder of Hello Drama. This professional has extensive experience in teaching inspiring, playful and challenging English-language drama workshops for Belgian schools. Various drama workshops can only be combined in the case of two groups of 20 pupils.
