OSBASTON primary School in Monmouth have been writing to pupils in Carbonne, France, Monmouth’s twinning town.

The “Posters, Penfriends and Friendship” project was set up to allow students from year four and five from both Carbonne and Monmouth to write to each other, reinforcing a sense of unity and fostering friendship overseas.

It aims to bring pupils’ language and learning to life. Supported at the start by a small grant from Monmouth Town Council, pupils are able to exchange handwritten cards and posters, make new friends whilst finding out more about school and home life in France.

The President of the Comité de Jumelage in Carbonne, Réjane Soula, visited Osbaston CiW school in May 2024 and in September last year, during the 50th anniversary celebrations in Carbonne, twinning member Tess Deighton visited the Ecole Henri Chanfreau.

“I had a lovely morning at the school in Carbonne with teachers Florence and Isabelle. I delivered the letters from Osbaston School, and the pupils were over the moon- they have started writing replies already and asked 100s of questions and I have lots of drawings to bring back for the pupils in Osbaston.”

Martin Newman, twinning member, said: “By already combining Welsh and English education, Osbaston is already leading the way opening children’s eyes to different cultures, and this added dimension on being able to reach out to French children creates a huge expansion of that.

“I know it is really enriching people’s lives here and I was in Carbonne last year for the 50th anniversary and I could feel it enriching their lives there.

“One thing people don’t know about Carbonne, is like Monmouth it is also where two rivers meet and so they know all about rivers and and I think that’s a shared link between the two communities.”