French Language School Trips to the Opal Coast

Our French Language Enrichment Experience has been designed to develop conversational and comprehension skills through a range of exciting target language-focused excursions and activities with an emphasis on enrichment experiences.

Throughout your tour, pupils will have daily interactions with French speakers to help build their confidence when communicating in a variety of social situations. No matter what your group’s age or ability, your experience can be pitched at exactly the right level to enrich their learning and enable your pupils to engage with the target language. 

With the support of your own French-speaking Groupie at NST’s Château d’Ebblinghem, your pupils will be encouraged to use their language skills at all times, for example, during morning language briefings, mealtimes and evening activities.

Your Groupie will liaise with you on arrival to confirm your group’s language requirements, to support differentiated learning styles and to ensure that your trip is meeting your needs. Then put your learning into practice by interacting with native French speakers on a series of local visits!

This port town provides several cultural experiences located close together. 

• Take a guided tour of the town and practise your language skills with the local French guide. 
• Explore the Roman old town, spending time in its shops and cafés and practising language skills. 
• Pupils can also compare French life past and present. 
• Local market days are Wednesday and Saturday. Pupils can interact with traders, build language confidence and pick up a bargain or two.

Gain an insight into French farming and cheese making. There are also opportunities for cheese tasting and, at certain times of the year, to help milk the goats. 

Learn about the industry of chocolate making and combine the demonstrations of melting, moulding and coating with worksheets, a guided tour of the workshop (in English or French), and the chance to enjoy tasting samples!

Get a real taste of France! At a working snail farm, your group will learn how one of France’s most famous foods is reared. Then sit back and see which of your pupils will be first to sample one for themselves. 

There are a number of boulangeries in the region where your pupils will watch and listen to the baker describe, in French, the process of making traditional French bakery products, before getting the chance to produce and eat their own. 

At this traditional boulangerie only French is spoken. Your pupils will learn new phrases as they see the making and baking of bread, before leaving with a fresh croissant or pain au chocolat.

Visit the organic orchards at this cider farm and learn about the ecosystem of the farm, the cycle of the plant and organic production. Visits can be adapted to the age of pupils and there is an on-site shop for tasty souvenirs!

Nausicaá promises you an unforgettable voyage to the heart of the Ocean! Discover the 1,600 species who call the Aquarium home. A visit here will convince you that the Ocean is not only a wondrous and rich resource; it is also the future of Mankind. This fascinating sea centre promotes learning through interactive exhibits. Groups can explore three amazing worlds: "Journey on the High Seas,"  "Mankind and Shores" and "Ocean and Climate." 

Nausicaa offer 1 hour educational workshops which will really bring your trip to life. The workshops currently available are:
Zoom into Marine Life - Observe tiny fauna magnified thousands of times on a wide screen and discover the importance of a good water quality for survival of the species.
Calculate your ecological footprint - Thanks to a 20 question quiz, discover your ecological footprint and your impact on climate change!
Zoom into marine biodiversity - At the lab, pupils will observe tiny marine animals through microscopes. They will discover shared characteristics according to the classification of living beings.
Sharks! Not even scared! - Let’s discover the shark and its importance in the Ocean. Learn more about this fascinating animal and look at it differently.

You can also take a 'backstage tour' of Nausicaa to find out what goes on behind the scenes at the Sea Centre. How was it built? What do the manta rays and the other animals of the big tank eat?

Follow trail instructions and answer questions in French in this informative way to explore the town. NST’s exclusive trails are an excellent method of getting pupils to read, repeat and understand French words and phrases. Town trails are available in: 

• Aire-sur-la-Lys 
• Boulogne-sur-Mer 
• St Omer

Lessons at the universities of Lille and Boulogne can be tailored to the ability of your group as well as your choice of topic. Your group will be split into classes of up to 15 pupils to ensure the maximum individual participation of each pupil, who will then go on to use their enhanced abilities and confidence in speaking the language for the remainder of the visit. These lessons are available year-round from Monday through to Saturday (excluding August).

Spend a day at this fantastic theme park, home to a wonderful mix of rollercoasters, shows, animals and water features.

Relax between, or after, visits at this fabulous leisure centre. Its ten lane swimming pool and large ice-skating rink are popular with our groups.

Did you know the waffle is one of the oldest biscuits in the world? During this visit you will find out about the production of waffles and have a chance to see the Little Museum of Waffle Houplines. This delicious and educational tour ends with a tasting of course ... a great moment of pleasure for your taste buds!

See 5000 years of art history at the Louvre-Lens museum. Explore the museum’s exhibitions and discover masterpieces and sculptures in this beautiful art museum.

If you like adventure, and you’re not afraid of heights, climb the 274 steps to the top of the Lighthouse for fabulous 360 degree views of Le Touquet.

Learn about the history of the sweet shop and see how the sweets and lollipops are made. Pupils will learn from the French commentary, demonstrations and be able to taste the delicious sweets produced. 

Famous for their culinary credentials, see how these delicious biscuits are made.

Famous for pottery, visit the Ceramics Museum in Desvres and take part in a pottery workshop.

Visit this dairy farm and see how the animals are reared and how their milk is used to make the delicious cheese.

Take a guided tour of the underground refuges at Naours. Hollowed out of the limestone by local people as a refuge during invasions, pupils will love wandering around this maze of 28 tunnels and 300 chambers.

Established in Calais, inside an authentic nineteenth century lace factory, the Museum of Lace and Fashion is a specialist museum for the famous lace woven on looms. 

Tour the visitor centre and small museum of the Arques Crystal Glass factory. The works was founded by the Durand family in 1825 to make demijohns for Bordeaux winemakers. Today, it markets a full range of tableware products in more than 160 countries.

This fascinating museum was once the Nazi’s planned V2 rocket base. It now showcases the story of Hitler’s secret weapon and also of French life during WWII.

The bomb damaged remains of this V2 assembly and launching site house a museum covering the themes of the 1940s occupation of Northern France, the German secret weapons, the Cold War and the conquest of space.

Learn how Henry V’s weakened and outnumbered army defeated the French in 1415. This fascinating museum contains a wealth of documents, reproductions and photographic enlargements, copies of weapons and armour and a scale model of the battlefield. Students will gain a valuable insight into how and why battles were fought, get to touch and handle the arms and armour and interact with full-size talking figures.

Spend a fun couple of hours wandering around this zoo and enjoy the antics of the wildlife. 

Ride aboard the Calais Dragon and discover a breathtaking view of Calais, the beach and the Côte d'Opale. The dragon awakens and a unique 45-minute journey begins.

Image credit: Fred Collier, Ville de Calais