Auld Alliance was resurrected as a Port primary opened their own French-themed cafe

Youngsters at St Michael's recently turned the school red, white and blue to help with their learning of the country's language and culture.

All staff and pupils were invited along to enjoy a bite to eat, inspired by French cuisine and kindly supported by the town's Tesco store.

But it was also an event for the wider community, with children and adults from Newark, Rainbow and Gibshill nurseries all invited along, as well as residents and staff from Newark Care Home.

French is taught from P1-7 and pupils used the cafe as an opportunity to put into practice words and phrases picked up in the classroom.

Student Megan Sweeney, 11, from the St Michael's communications group, said: "It helps with our learning of the language and it's a little bit of fun.

"You also pick up lots of things about French food, the culture and what they celebrate.

"We wanted to make it a real community event and that's why we invited the nurseries and residents and staff from the care home."

After sampling some of the food on offer at the cafe, including croissants, baguettes, cheeses and even snails, the French-themed fun and games then continued back in the classroom.

Pupils and staff also came dressed especially for the day.

Youngsters from P2/1 led the event, planning the menu, serving at the cafe and ensuring that speaking in English was kept to a minimum.

Class teacher Maria Moses told the Tele: "Each pupil was assigned the responsibility of a special job to do, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

"Tesco kindly donated a lot of food for us to serve and we are so grateful to them for their very generous donations.

"It was a wonderful learning experience for the children.

"They all worked hard and I'm very proud of them."