The baccalaureat's written exams are over. Now you may be getting ready for your orals. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for my L students !

Meanwhile, you can find the subjects and the corrections for free here:

http://lewebpedagogique.com/bac/

Su Blackwell's book sculpture, The Extasie, 2006. You may see other works by this British artist there :

 http://www.sublackwell.co.uk/portfolio-book-cut-sculpture/

Early this year, it was announced that English GPs were to prescribe self-help books which patients suffering from anxiety, panic attacks and depression could borrow from their local library. The idea is clearly to help the 6 million people in England suffering from depression, considering that as much as two third of those people are not treated. Used in Wales as a treatment against mild cases of depression since 2005, bibliotherapy does work, as a medical research pubished in the journal Plos One shows: patients who have been reading targeted books for over a year have seen their levels of depression decrease  significantly. A long-time believer in the healing power of books, philosopher Alain de Botton opened The School of Life in 2008. Located near King’s Cross in Central London,  the school is a cultural enterprise whose aim is to offer services concerned with how to live wisely and well. As such, it includes a bibliotherapy service to guide people into the fascinating but often complex world of literature. A specialist explores members’ personal relationship with books and comes up with a selection perfectly suited to them and their needs, helping them discovering new literary directions. In France however, bibliotherapy still remains largely unknown to most people. A few articles have been published in national newspapers and magazines but word isn’t spreading as fast as in other countries like Denmark or New Zealand. Let’s hope that this article will help giving bibliotherapy a good press!

 Violaine Azéma

If you enjoy looking at contemporary art, there is an unprecedented opportunity to stroll across the gardens of the restaurant "Les Crayères". 22 artists' works are on display. You'll have access to the garden until June 30th. It's free and sounds really exciting. Don't miss this event !

This exhibition is entitled  "Géométrie Variable" (for which I haven't found any accurate translation, sorry.)

http://www.tourisme-champagne-ardenne.com/activites/fetes-et-manifestations/exposition-geometrie-variable-au-domaine-les-crayeres/reims/o_10890.aspx

An article published last month contains many eulogistic remarks about Reims. If you sometimes regret not living in the south or in Paris  most people consider the places to be, well, read this post by Paul Wade and you'll find out why foreigners like our city. Unsurprisingly the photo shows some clichés about France : Wine and romance !

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/9141121/Reims-France-a-cultural-city-guide.html

The restaurants and hotels recommended are not the cheapest. But attracting wealthy tourists can't be bad for the city's economy.

This poster was designed by: Solene Donato, 1 STD2A 

Last Tuesday I took my 2°2 students to attend a festival that took place in our high school.  We had been invited, like the rest of the students and adults, by the 1ères TSTD2A. Here is what they wrote on Friday about this experience:

The name of the festival was Zarzaland. There were short shows presented by Barthou elementary school pupils and  Chagall high school students together. The shows took place in Marc Chagall High School in different places: outside and in classrooms.  The design classrooms are larger than ours ! The kids and the teenagers had created and installed sets. We didn't all see the same thing. It was all about nature, environment and health. To present their shows they used shadows, lights, music, puppets and costumes.

We saw the story of a drop of water called Perlette, told by puppets and some kids, a play about vegetables and flowers and a shadow thetre play about a thief who stole colours.

All the shows were free ! The kids did a good job ! The stories were for kids, so the audience was a little too old, but we thought the scenograpy was clever. 

And personally I felt impressed and quite moved by this collaboration between two generations and I'd like to say "thank you" to the teachers who have worked all year long to produce such a beautiful festival.

A. Sirot

...whose notions of time are vaguer than yours. John B. Priestly

Now that the sun has remembered it was summer soon, we start thinking about holidays.

If you want to know more about school holidays in England and other English-speaking countries, here is a useful website: http://www.halftermdates.co.uk/

You'll see that it is note less complicated than here to know when someone is not at school and that our holidays aren't that long.

If you are a seconde student, enjoy your long summer holidays. They are likely the last ones you'll have ever ! After that you'll have to take exams in may and June, and later on, when you are university students, maybe you'll have summer jobs that will reduce your holiday time.

Almost last-minute ! At the end of next week our Terminales students will attend their last lesson at Chagall High School. And not that long after they will take their English test for the baccalauréat. To reassure those who think they haven't done enough to be ready, which is often not true, here is a website where they'll find some advice they may have heard before... or not.

http://www.toutpourlebac.com/index.php/dossiers/188/methodes-bac-anglais--reussir-lecrit-et-loral.html

Another link seemed to be useful but for some unexplained reason I can't have access to the website today. Try again another day and it may work !

http://www.annabac.com/content/tout-savoir-sur-lepreuve-danglais-au-bac

Honestly you don't have to be worried. Breathe. Read everything that is printed. Think twice before writing. And everything will be ok !

The Great Gatsby is on in Reims at the Opera. Not everybody agrees it's a good film. Personally I loved the book, and didn't dislike the film made after it in 1974, but it was a long time ago and I may be more critical today. So before seeing this new version, maybe you'll appreciate watching this video:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturevideo/filmvideo/10059473/Ive-just-seen...The-Great-Gatsby.html

Sarah Crompton, from the Telegraph, reviews the first UK screening of Baz Luhrmann's film adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan.

Charles Trenet would have been a 100 years old today. You may be too young to remember him. England and the USA used to know him though. Here's a link to know what people say about him there:

http://www.thegoodlifefrance.com/french-music-charles-trenet-2/

And here, you can find some of his songs translated into English:

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Trenet

And Google too celebrates his 100th birthday.

During my trip to Scotland I realized that many of the students were really keen on taking photos and had very sophisticated cameras. So maybe, if you happen to have travelled abroad this year, you could enter the National Geographic Photo Contest.

Here is the link http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/traveler-magazine/photo-contest/2013/ where you'll find all the useful information to enter.

Personally I may well make do with looking at all the entries on the website and try and guess who'll win. The photos are superb.

What do you think of this one, taken by Rei Murakami in Agra, India ?