A VETERAN Jèrriais teacher has pledged never to give up his commitments to the language as pupils and teaching staff gathered to recognise 25 years’ service.
François Le Maistre, who first started teaching Jèrriais at Grouville Primary School in 1999, and pupils from the current Year 4 and Year 6 classes joined head teacher Nichola Turner, Constable Mark Labey and colleagues from L’Office du Jèrriais to mark the occasion.
Head of the Jèrriais teaching service Ben Spink described Mr Le Maistre – brother of language campaigner Jean Le Maistre and son of the late Frank, author of the celebrated Jèrriais dictionary – as “passionate” about his native language.
“He has been committed to passing on his knowledge of the language to children and adults for 25 years.
“François told me recently that he was beginning to step down from some of his many community responsibilities but that he would never give up his commitments to Jèrriais,” Mr Spink told guests at the reception.
To add to the atmosphere, Collette Labey provided freshly cooked Jersey Wonders and last year’s PWC Young Musician of the Year, Sydney Haskins, sang Beautiful Jersey – or Man Bieau P’tit Jèrri – in Jèrriais and English, having performed it at last year’s Liberation Day ceremony. She practised the Jèrriais pronunciation by listening to recordings of the late Sadie Le Sueur-Rennard.
Jèrriais teacher Susan Parker, who organised the celebration, paid tribute to Mr Le Maistre, who she said always responded positively to requests to help in the teaching programme, from helping with the Jèrriais section of the Eisteddfod to sharing his knowledge of the Occupation.
“When François mentioned to me recently that it was 25 years since he first started teaching Jèrriais at Grouville School, I knew that we had to celebrate this special anniversary. I’m very grateful to Nichola Turner for agreeing to host us so close to the end of term and for making all the visitors feel so welcome,” she said.
