Master of chanson, theguest of Foyle College

Madame Isabelle Sauvage, a professional French Storyteller from Le Conservatoire contemporain de Littérature Orale (CLiO), the Association of Storytellers in France performed two stories in French to a group of year 12, 13 and 14 French students: “Le Moineau, le Lièvre et le Chat” ( The Sparrow, the Hare and the Cat) and “Le Souriceau” (The Baby Mouse).

Foyle pupils also performed a dramatisation of “Le Navet Enorme” (The Enormous Turnip), and completed linguistic activities based on the stories.

This event was a further development of the school’s French storytelling project, for which Foyle College won a prestigious award from the British Academy in London in 2013.

One participating pupil said: “I found Isabelle entertaining to listen to.”

Another pupil said it brought to life the magic of vivid narrative.

“I’ve rekindled my love of storytelling – very entertaining and enthralling,” said one pupil.

It proved a fresh and inspirational way of fine-tuning the pupils’ language skills.

“A great way to learn new French,” said a participating student.

Isabelle Sauvage is a doctor and therapist.

She discovered the art of storytelling in 1992 and trained with Pascal Quéré and Hélène Vermeulin.

She studied Carnatic singing in India, classical singing in Paris and the epic song and the musical tale with John Paul Auboux and Bruno de La Salle.