The kangaroo and the koala

A long time ago, in the dreamtime, the koala walked fast and the kangaroo didn’t jump.

One day, the koala saved the kangaroo from a dangerous snake. So the kangaroo, to thank him, wanted to help him in return. The koala asked the kangaroo to bring him eucalyptus leaves because it was his favourite food. The kangaroo had to jump to get the leaves.
At first the koala slept and waited next to the kangaroo . But the koala wanted to go further and the kangaroo had to jump to find him. The koala asked the kangaroo to bring more eucalyptus leaves and the kangaroo had to jump higher to get them.
Day after day it was easier for the kangaroo to jump and the koala became lazier and lazier. He just slept all day and ate the leaves the kangaroo brought him.
One day, the kangaroo didn’t want to help him any more so the kangaroo went away. The koala had to climb up the eucalyptus trees to eat and it was very hard work!

Today if you go to Australia you can see lazy koalas in their trees and kangaroos jumping in the bush!

By Arthur and Thibaut.

Le kangourou et le koala
C'est l'histoire d'un koala très dégourdi, qui un jour sauva la vie d'un kangourou n'ayant jamais appris à sauter. Le kangourou, en échange lui proposa ses services. Le koala dit alors qu'il pourrait lui apporter les feuilles d'eucalyptus pour ses repas. Le kangourou ne sachant pas grimper aux arbres, commença à sauter de plus en plus haut pour cueillir des feuilles pendant que le koala se reposait.Depuis cette aventure, on rencontre en Australie des kangourous sauteurs et des koalas paresseux.

WHY KANGAROOS HAVE GOT A POUCH ON THEIR TUMMY ?

A long time ago in Australia there was a family of two kangaroos and a baby. In the middle of Australia there was a desert. At that time the kangaroos had no pouch on their tummy to put their baby in and the baby kangaroo had to walk next to its parents.

One day they found nothing to eat so the parents decided to go west. The three kangaroos crossed the desert but the baby kangaroo fell a lot and lost his parents. When the parents arrived et the end of the desert, they saw no baby.

The mother kangaroo had an idea. She saw lots of long grass and she weaved it together to make a pouch. Then she took a cactus needle and her longest hair; with these objects she sewed a pouch on her tummy. After that the parent kangaroos set out in search of their baby. When they found it the mother took her baby and put it in her new pouch.

It was such a good idea that all the other kangaroos copied and that’s why today all kangaroos carry their babies in a pouch .

By Isabelle and Jean-Philippe

"C'est l'histoire d'une famille de kangourous, le fils se perd et dès que le petit est retrouvé la mère trouve un moyen pour qu'il ne parte plus..."

8 AUSTRALIAN STUDENTS COME TO BERNSTEIN HIGH

Our Australia / Alsace partnership continues. This year, in June, 8 new Australian students were welcomed to Bernstein High. A group of 30 Australians in all came over.




OUR AUSTRALIAN EXCHANGE PROJECT
By Anne Stenger

This year, and for the 4th consecutive year, Bernstein High welcomed another group of Australian students from the Gold Coast, Queensland.

A bit of history: 4 years ago Bernstein High was contacted by the Local Education Authority in Strasbourg (le Rectorat) because a French teacher in Australia was looking for 3 or 4 schools in Alsace to start an exchange partnership. This teacher, Mrs. Nicole Davies, has set up a French Immersion Programme in her school (which is the equivalent of our German Bilingual Programmes in Alsace) where the pupils do half their school week in French! She was very keen to start up an exchange project with schools here in Alsace so that her pupils could live an authentic French experience. I answered her and agreed to participate, together with 3 other schools from the area (Erstein, Eschau and Gerstheim). That first year 12 Australian students came over. The following year the school in Eschau was replaced by Matzenheim and 24 students participated. And so the adventure continues... Last year a record of 30 students made the journey, and this year 28!

How it works: The Australian students who want to come to Alsace are put in contact with Year 9 (4ème) pupils in the 4 different schools around Christmas time. They correspond by email, MSN or snail mail for nearly 6 months before they come over for 3 weeks in June. The fact that they are in 4 different schools means they can’t be tempted to group together and speak English! Once back in Australia, the penfriends continue to correspond until the following April when our French students return the visit. Each year another school (and teacher) organizes the trip.

Thanks: I would like to thank our pupils and their families for everything they do in making our Australian visitors so welcome. Thanks also to our school administrators for making the whole project possible.

Long live our Australian Exchange Project!


NOTRE PROJET D’ECHANGE AVEC L’AUSTRALIE

Cette année, et pour la 4ème année consécutive, le Collège du Bernstein a accueilli un groupe d’élèves d’Australie.

Un peu d’histoire : Il y a 4 ans j’étais contacté par le rectorat parce que un professeur de français en Australie cherchait des écoles en France dans le but d’établir un partenariat. Ce professeur, Mme Nicole Davies, s’occupe d’une section bilingue française dans son école et voulait que ses élèves puissent participer à un échange linguistique en France. J’ai répondu positivement à sa demande, ainsi que 3 autres écoles de la région ( Erstein, Eschau et Gerstheim). La première année, 2003, 12 élèves australiens sont venus. L’année suivante Eschau a été remplacé par Matzenheim, et 24 élèves ont participé. L’année dernière ils étaient à 30 et cette année 28.

Comment ça fonctionne : Les Australiens qui veulent venir en Alsace sont appariés à des élèves de 4èmes à partir du mois de décembre. Ils correspondent par mail, MSN ou courrier traditionnel pendant 6 mois jusqu’à leur visite en juin. Ils sont répartis dans les 4 écoles pour qu’ils ne soient pas tentés de se regrouper et de parler en anglais entre eux ! Une fois de retour en Australie les élèves continuent à correspondre jusqu’en avril lorsque nos élèves (alors en 3ème) font le voyage retour. Chaque année c’est une autre école (et un autre professeur) qui organise le voyage.

Remerciements : Je remercie les élèves et leurs familles qui accueillent si chaleureusement les élèves australiens pour tout ce qu’ils font. Un grand merci aussi aux administrations des écoles qui rendent cette expérience possible.

My Australian penfriend
By Arthur

My penfriend’s name’s Thomas Parer.
He’s funny, lazy and he speaks French very well but he hates sport whereas I like sport a lot.
With him, we visited many towns: Strasbourg, Nancy, Obernai and lots of other towns!
In Nancy we visited the Stanislas Square, in Strasbourg we visited the cathedral. We visited many other things like the Alsatian museum and the chocolate museum.
We went to a small village in Lorraine to see my cousins.
In Europapark, we went on many attractions, it was fantastic!!!!
I think he enjoyed himself because we visited many monuments.
After Thomas went home, we sent many messages to each other.