FASS has resumed its activities but because of COVID restrictions, these activities are by necessity presently available to members only. We will of course make our events publicly available as restrictions are eased. In the meantime, please contact us if you would like any further information
President’s End of Year Message
I think that this year has been the most disrupted year that we can all remember. Who would have thought that all of a sudden, all our plans to ramp up our FASS activities would come to a sudden halt, and that we would have to drastically change our daily habits and work routine?
I believe this pandemic has given us a reason to reflect on our personal situation and on our objectives and the importance of human relationships. What we missed most was hugging and having a face-to-face conversation with loved ones. We turned to technology –Zoom and Skype – but that feeling of remoteness could not be wiped away.
Since the gradual lifting of the health restrictions, FASS has slowly been resuming its group activities and the pleasure of getting together again in person has been very clear to see.
May the new year be a wonderful one for FASS and its members. Enjoy the festive season and keep safe.
Marc de Cazanove
December 2020
President’s Message
FASS held its Annual General Meeting on the 10th of October 2020 at Taren Point Public School under the strict covid19 meeting conditions.
I am pleased to announce that all the committee members of last year were unanimously returned. We welcome four new members who offered to join the committee to assist in running our activities.
We maintain our normal calendar of cultural, social and educational activities, both indoor and outdoor ; and will adjust as and when the pandemic restrictions are relaxed. Our first outdoor picnic/petanque event will be on Sunday 25th October 2020.
FASS has and will continue the support and promotion of its loyal and generous sponsors throughout these difficult times ; and we hope that our most important annual community event , the French market – ‘La Belle Vie’ – will resume in 2021.
We are proud of the continued success of our French Immersion programme, in partnership with the Taren Point Public School with the support of the new Principal, James Nobbs.
FASS maintained its yearly award to year 12 students who top their class in the study of French. This year Caringbah and Kirrawee High Schools nominated their top achiever who was rewarded with the FASS prize.
This pandemic that impacts our daily life hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm and dedication of our members and the spirit that animates our ‘Papotages’ and conversation groups survives and flourishes.
We all look forward to an exciting and successful year.
Marc de Cazanove
October 2020
FASS AGM
Saturday 10 October 2020 at 10:00
Our AGM will held in the library at Taren Point Public School at 10.00 am on Saturday 10th October. We hope that all members will be able to attend. A COVID19 plan will be in place and hand sanitizer, social distancing, and attendee registration formalities will be observed.
All office and committee positions will be declared vacant. If you would like to nominate someone for a position, or to propose yourself, whether that position is currently occupied or not, please contact us.
We hope to see you there
Our phone number has changed to
0450 882 073
Les Papotages de FASS
samedi 28 mars 2020 à 11:00
Venez parler français au café de Monsieur Paisley.
Tous les niveaux sont les bienvenus. Si vous avez peur de parler, vous pouvez aussi écouter et profiter!
Mr Paisley’s Café, 88 Cawarra Road, Caringbah.
Pétanque Picnic in the Park
Sunday 15 March 2020 at 3:00 pm
Come and join us for a social game of pétanque from 3:00pm at Burnum Sanctuary in Woronora. Feel free to bring some nibbles and drinks if you like and if you have a set of pétanque balls, please bring those too. We hope to see you there.
Burnum Burnum Sanctuary, Woronora.
Les Papotages de FASS
samedi 14 mars 2020 à 10:00
Envie de parler français, tout simplement? Parler de tout et de rien, de la pluie et du beau temps? D’échanger dans la langue de Molière en dehors des classes traditionnelles ?
Alors venez papoter autour d’un café.
Pas de programme, pas de grammaire et une seule règle: interdiction de parler anglais!
Hazelhurst Gallery Café, 782 Kingsway, Gymea.
March Movie night
Friday 6 March at 7:00 pm
MOUCHETTE
Mouchette is a young girl living in the country. Her mother is dying and her father does not take care of her. Mouchette remains silent in the face of the humiliations she undergoes. One night in the woods, she meets Arsène, the village poacher, who thinks he has just killed the local policeman. He tries to use Mouchette to build an alibi.
No film could be more different from our February selection than “Mouchette”. In black and white, this 1967 movie from acclaimed director Robert Bresson is set in a rural village in France. Its dark story and minimalist style is typical of Bresson, whose films are highly considered by movie critics all over the world.
Duration: 81 minutes
Rating: M
Hazelhurst Gallery, 782 Kingsway, Gymea.
On Friday 22 November 2019 we celebrated the arrival of the 2019 vintage Beaujolais Nouveau.
We were welcomed at the Grate Cheese Co. in Gymea who put on beautiful platters of cheese, charcuterie and paté and the very pleasant Beaujolais Nouveau was from the Maison Trenel vineyard in Charnay-lès-Mâcon.
A great night enjoyed by all !
FASS Annual General Meeting
Saturday 12 October 2019
Thank you to all those members who attended and who offered their support and help. We look forward to another year of fantastic and varied events and to enjoying all things French with you. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any suggestions of feedback, if you would like to be involved with any aspect of our association, or with the organisation of specific events.
The FASS committee for the coming year is as follows:
Marc: President, Sponsorship coordinator
Sandie: Secretary
Bruce : Treasurer
Bob: Public Officer, Intermediate Conversation
Anyes: Education coordinator, Events coordinator
Anne: Membership, Associations liaison, Website and social media
Olivier: Film club, Beginners conversation
Christine: Committee secretary
Greg: Associations liaison
Helen: Committee
The 2019 FASS – Dominelli Renault Awards for excellence in Year 12 French
In light of our aim to promote the French language in our area, FASS is very happy to present awards again this year to the top Year 12 French students in Sutherland Shire High Schools. These awards have been made possible by our GOLD Sponsor, Dominelli Renault in Kirrawee.
This year, the awards have gone to 3 deserving students at Woolooware, Caringbah and Kirrawee High Schools.
We wish these students all the very best as they prepare to sit their HSC exams. We congratulate them on their hard work and excellent results in French and we hope that their interest in French will continue in the future.
Rendez-Vous
A French Themed Theatrical Concert
Sunday 15 September at 3:00pm
The ROH is a fun loving Sutherland Shire-based choir which performs a varied repertoire of Renaissance and Medieval Songs as well as classical choral music.
Click here for more information about the ROH.
FASS is pleased to be organising a group booking for the matinee session of their next performance, Rendez-Vous, which is a concert of French themed song, dance and music.
We hope you can join us – please contact us at fass@y7mail.com to book your seat.
The performance will take place at the Sutherland Memorial School of Arts, with plenty of available parking and easy access by both train and bus.
Sutherland Memorial School of Arts, 25 East Parade, Sutherland.
Winter Crepes
Sunday 4 August 2019
What a great day it was – beautiful weather, delicious crepes with a variety of toppings and cider to wash them down, activities for the children, music and great company. Thank you to everyone who came along – old friends and new, to all the volunteers who worked hard all day, and to Taren Point Public School for hosting our event.
Click here to see the photos
Bushwalk
Sunday 18 August 2019
It was a beautiful morning at Kurnell for our walk of the Cape Baily track up to the lighthouse and back. The landscapes were beautiful, the views spectacular, and to top it all off, we even saw a few whales on the way back.
Bastille Day Lunch
Sunday 14 July 2019
Our Bastille Day lunch was hosted this year by the Diggers Club RSL Miranda and was well supported by over 50 FASS members and guests. The chef, Andrew, prepared a delicious and beautifully presented menu for the occasion.
Corinne Andrew and her trio entertained us with delightful French music and songs were French, many of which were well-known to all.
This was one of our most enjoyable Bastille Day events ever.
Click here to see the photos.
An afternoon with Catherine Rey
Sunday 30 June 2019
This afternoon, FASS members enjoyed a presentation by Catherine Rey who came to talk to us about her most recent novel, and her first written in English “The Lovers”, published in 2018.
The audience was captivated to learn about the intimate and very personal process of writing, from the creation of the book, through to its publication.
Catherine spoke to us about her personal experiences and how meetings, places, people and other works of art affected and challenged her, and became an integral part of the characters in her novel.
Thank you Catherine for this fascinating and touching presentation.
Click here to listen to the interview of Catherine Rey on the ABC Radio National in September 2018
Click here to listen to a performance of The Quartet for the End of Time by Olivier Messiaen that Catherine spoke to us about and that is so important to her.
“French Enlightenment in Australia”
Friday 31 May 2019
Miranda Diggers Club hosted a fantastic presentation by Emeritus Professor Robert Clancy AM on Friday 31 May. His talk touched on some little known aspects of how the French influenced the development of the Australian economy in the 18th and 19th centuries. Those present learned about how some ingenious and enterprising Frenchmen contributed to solving the problems caused by plagues of rabbits, and to allowing the exportation of Australian meat by sea. The presentation was fascinating and Professor Clancy’s enthusiasm and humour won over the audience. Thanks to the FASS committee for organising such a great event, for Miranda Diggers RSL Club for hosting it, and especially to Professor Clancy for sharing his passion with us.
La Belle Vie French Market
Sunday 5 May 2019 – 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Our second fundraising market was a fantastic day, despite the wild weather that interrupted us somewhat in the earlier afternoon. The crowds came early however, and all our stall holders were doing great business from the start. There was fabulous food on offer as well as a fantastic variety of beautiful things, all with a French connection. Our musicians and our special displays completed the French experience. The Citroen Car Club of NSW was back with a selection of magnificent iconic cars, the Meccano Modellers Association of Sydney had prepared a lovely display of models for the delight of young and old, Boules Artistes Petanque Club was on hand to show us the finer points of this great French game and our local artists gave the market that Montmartre feel. THANK YOU you to all our generous sponsors for their support – without you, the market would not be possible: GOLD sponsors: Design Choice Enterprises, Diggers Miranda and Dominelli Renault, SILVER sponsors: Canal + Australie, Dr Lionel Chang, GJ Fine Foods and Granite Transformations Caringbah, and our BRONZE sponsor GFATN. See the sponsors tab of our website for more information about these businesses. THANK YOU to all our stall holders for bringing us such an amazing choice of fabulous things and for your good humour and joie de vivre. THANK YOU to the community who came to visit us in their thousands, and enjoyed the French atmosphere and everything that was on offer. THANK YOU to all the local businesses, organisations and individuals that willingly supported and helped us in so many different ways, from displays on the day, donations for raffle and peoples’ choice prizes, to supply of goods and services to help the market run smoothly: Allegria Designs, AP Performers, Bitton Gourmet Oatley, Blue Illusion Cronulla, Bunnings Caringbah, Calvo Construct, Canon Australia, Citroen Car Club of NSW, Tony Corben, Eckersley’s Art and Craft Caringbah, Anne-Marie Fryziuk, David Greig from McGrath Estate Agents, Kennards Hire Taren Point, Laguiole Australia, Lou’s Produce, Mecccano Modellers Association Sydney, Petit Haricote, Repco Australia Taren Point, Shire Farmers’ Market, Shire Talk, Sutherland Shire Council and Mayor Carmelo Pesce, TSW-Plant Based Beauty and the Eat Graze Co. Finally a massive THANK YOU to all the volunteers from FASS and Taren Point Public School who gave their time and energy to the organisation and the running of the market. The funds raised go towards supporting the French language and French immersion programmes running at Taren Point Public School. This support helps to ensure the sustainability of the programmes and provide valuable resources for the school. Taren Point Public School is only one of three public schools in New South Wales that are members of the Australian Association of French-English Bilingual Schools and we are very proud of our achievements in creating and maintaining these programmes. Merci merci merci à tous – we hope to see you all again next year on Sunday 3 May 2020 !
Click here to see some photos of the day and click here to see market report.
Picture: John Veage
Taren Point Public School becomes a member of AAFEBS – the Australian Association of French-English Bilingual Schools
The French immersion programme at Taren Point Public School which is supported by FASS has now been recognised by the French authorities. The bilingual programme has qualified the school to become a member of the Australian Association of French-English Bilingual Schools (AAFEBS). Taren Point Public School is one of three NSW schools and 15 Australia-wide to receive this recognition.
The parent-funded program enables participating pupils to be taught the Australian curriculum in French. Principal Trent Bridgland says the membership will strengthen the school’s immersion program through resource expansion, professional learning and the support of a bilingual school network. “It will also ensure our school and program is recognised by both our local community and at a national level,” he said. “We are pleased to be able to offer it in both Kindergarten and year 1 in 2019 and look forward to expanding the program to all year levels in the coming years.”
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