There’s something special that connects the Thames Valley in New Zealand with the Loire Valley in France.
It’s an experience Thames High students Tara De La Rive Box, 16, and Sophie Whyte, 17, will get to live out this December when they will head to the town of Blois in the Loire Valley of France to study for two months as part of the Nutter Exchange.
It’s a long-standing cultural and language exchange programme between Thames High School and Robert Badinter International School, formerly called Augustin-Thierry High School in Blois, France, and was established in 1985 through the bequest of Mr Raymond Nutter.
He settled in Thames in 1949 and in his later years, split up his time between Thames, Sydney and the town of Blois, France.
The exchange is managed through the Thames High School Raymond Nutter Trust.
When Tara and Sophie, who both study the French language, found out they received scholarships through the trust to go on the exchange – they said they were excited.
“I was so happy that I told all of my friends instantly,” Tara told The Profile. She was excited to meet new people and learn about French culture.
“I started learning French in year 10, because I wanted to travel after school, and France was a country I really wanted to visit. It has been difficult learning it online, but I am very grateful that I’m not doing it on my own,” she said.
When Tara gets to France, she will stay with a home-stay family and then next year, the student from that family will stay with Tara’s family in New Zealand.
She said she studied a lot of French and hoped it would be enough to be able to “keep up” when she heads over there.
“I really want to travel after school, so this would be a great opportunity to experience travelling.”
Meanwhile, Sophie said she was “so overjoyed” about her news of getting accepted to the programme and “couldn’t keep it to myself”.
It will be Sophie’s first time to France, a trip she said she’s excited about as it was a place she dreamed about going to for years. “I hope to experience an authentic part of French life that you wouldn’t get as a tourist just passing through. It will be exciting to speak French in everyday conversations and put my French skills to the test after learning French for three years,” she said.
She believed there was significance in encountering other ways of life.
“I think it’s important to discover and experience different cultures and languages because it pushes you out of your comfort zone or what’s normal for you,” she said.
Her goal was to represent Thames High School by embodying the school values, such as manakitanga.
“Everyone belongs, everyone matters and everyone has potential. I will treat everyone with respect and kindness that manakitanga asks for.”
By DAVIDDA HIKATANGATA
