Meet Madame Sachet, Teacher of French (Years 5 to 8)
Please tell us where you hail from, where you trained and what your qualifications are?
Bonjour, je m’appelle Madame Sachet. I am French, from Rennes in Brittany. I became an anglophile as soon as I started studying English in Year 7, to the point of announcing to my parents that: “When I grow-up, I’ll go and live in England”. And so I did, after I passed my baccalauréat.
“I came to work as an au-pair in England …
… where I fell even more in love with the English language and British culture. I then returned to France to study English and gained a DEUG (Diplôme d’Études Universitaires Générales). Five years later, I returned to the UK and I have been teaching French ever since.
Tell us all about your career experience (past schools etc, your achievements there and anything you did career-wise before teaching).
I have been teaching French since 2005 in various schools in London from Nursery to A-level. I qualified as a teacher in 2018 via the UK’s School Direct Teacher Training programme.
Among the various schools I have worked in, I taught French in Coldfall Primary School in Muswell Hill, London, from 2007 to 2017, a three-form entry with a continuing Outstanding Ofsted grading.
I then decided to train and qualify as a Modern Foreign Languages teacher. In 2018, I gained the Qualified Teacher Status via the School Direct route at St George’s Secondary School in Gravesend, where I developed further knowledge and experiences in my teaching practice.
I returned to London where I taught French in three different primary schools. The highlights of my career would be organising numerous trips to France and being able to witness the children practising their French.
“Learning languages in today's global world is so important …
because they can so enrich lives and career opportunities. Also, did you know that people who speak more than one language have improved memory, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, enhanced concentration, ability to multitask, and better listening skills? Plus of course they bring the wonderful opportunity to learn from and make friends with people from different cultures.”
Please tell us a little about your interests.
I have just moved to West Sussex and I’m very keen to explore new places by bike or on foot! Because I’m away from my family, I often go back to Brittany during school holidays and enjoy all that France has to offer (quite aside from wonderful wine and cheese!).
Tell us what drew you to become a teacher and what it is you enjoy most about teaching.
I come from a family of 10 children! Therefore, I had a lot of responsibility looking after my younger siblings, which probably led to my vocation into teaching. I qualified as a play scheme assistant at the age of 17 and have worked with children and young people ever since then.
I absolutely love teaching French and I often share authentic resources about current affairs, events or way of life in France. There is often a slideshow of my Christmas and summer holiday in France with different places, types of food, my pets and anecdotes.
Why have you chosen to work in the independent sector now and what are you looking forward to?
I’ve mainly worked in the state sector so I understand the realities of the profession which make the tailoring of teaching more efficient in smaller classes. I think that the independent sector has a stronger recognition of the enrichment value of language learning.
What appealed to you about working at Sompting Abbotts?
I believe Sompting Abbotts offers the perfect ‘triangle’. Friendly families, experienced staff and a superb indoor and outdoor learning environment. There is a general sense of fluidity, understanding, expectations and bien-être. I’ve also been impressed by the management and staff’s professionalism, friendliness, support, subject knowledge and varied experiences.
Tell us something we don't know about you or that might surprise us!
I'm a twin – non-identical. And I can speak Spanish! Learning languages is part of a never-ending learning journey.
What child doesn’t love to collect handfuls of glossy brown conkers? At Sompting Abbotts, they don't just fill their pockets — even socks become makeshift pouches. And so, at this time of the year, we send the children out into our school grounds to look for shiny conkers (not that they need any persuading).