When we received the post that day, an address caught our eye: “To our dear neighbours”! We could immediately guess where it was coming from: it was the “Ecole Catholique Chanteclair”, in Trégueux, a commune near the town of Saint-Brieuc, in the Brittany region of France. France.
“Our dear neighbours”... That’s what the pupils and teaching staff have been calling us ever since Marion Alloyer, who is in charge of a CP-CE1 class and of this school, invited us to meet her pupils two years ago to answer their questions about who we are, those of us who live in the big house overlooking their school! The letter contained an invitation for us to take part in a “BREAKFAST” at 8.45am, a new initiative designed to raise awareness among pupils – from nursery to CM2 – of “a balanced diet for good health”.
That morning, we were greeted in the school entrance as if we were waiting for a self-service restaurant… and we were immediately amazed to discover the little ones from the nursery school, already lined up in rows, moving towards the people who were distributing the “breakfast”: chocolate, milk, fruit juice, bread with butter or jam, fruit, yoghurt… Then, to our amazement, we see them leave, each holding their own breakfast tray, which a few parents carefully hold back!
Then, led by Marion into her familiar classroom, Paul, one of the pupils, and others together, place their words of “Welcome” on the table, while some of them approach us to chat… After this exceptional “Breakfast”, we join in their various games. 10.30am: time for playtime and a chance to let off steam. In the context of the Olympic Games, Olympiads – a series of outdoor games and activities – will be held… For us, after this brief moment immersed in the school context, it’s back to the community. How can we not think back to so many other great times spent with the whole school, including the church celebrations?
These encounters touch us because they maintain our links with the concrete history of our Congregation in so many communes in Brittany, where teaching and home care were our passion and our mission! In Trégueux, the first two sisters arrived in 1848 and the first class opened on 1 October…
More than the school we see from our house, more than its classes, what is most deeply real to us are the bonds of sympathy, as if the current teaching team, by involving their pupils, wanted to keep alive something of the birth of the school! So, our deepest gratitude to all those involved in Chanteclair Catholic School today!
Armandine, Jeanne, Marie-Thérèse – Daughters of the Holy Spirit. Trégueux. Published on 21 June 2024
