THERE is a certain 'je ne sais quoi' about a country primary school in East Lancashire.

Turton and Edgworth CE Methodist Primary School is leading the way in foreign language education, having set up six month exchanges with French pupils.

The school is currently hosting nine-year-old Lucille Genin whose family lives on the outskirts of Lyon in the French alpine region.

The aim of her 'sejour' is to become bilingual by the age of ten and build up relations between two schools.

She is now living life the English way, with an English host family, school and hobbies. She will even be tucking into her turkey and pudding over here for Christmas.

And if the standards of French of 11-year-old Adam Knight of Edgworth are anything to go by, she will already have banked a major head start in life.

It is thought to be one of the only schemes running in East Lancashire for this length of time.

Adam has already done his six month stint on the continent after his mum arranged the exchange through the company, Aller based near London. He is now planning to take GCSE French when he starts high school next year.

Stewart Plowes, head teacher at the primary, which caters for 249 pupils, said the academic advantages of the six month exchange were "immeasurable".

He said: "It was not easy for Adam settling into his school in France, and Lucille has experienced some of the initial teething problems.

"There is a lot to take in when you think about the differences in lifestyle and education but everyone benefits and can learn from her."

But there are strict rules to be adhered to. There is no French spoken in the household and very little at school.

Lucille, who has a ten-year-old sister and seven-year-old brother, will step back onto French soil in March.

She said: "At first I did not really know the family I was staying with so it was a bit difficult. I could speak a little English before I came but now I am much better.

"People are very friendly but I miss my family."

Adam went over last term. He said: "I enjoyed it a lot but I did have some problems with school and did not enjoy it as much as here.

"But now I can take GCSE French and can slip into the other language whenever I want. I was doing the same work as I do over here but I missed out on maths, as they did not do it as much. I was always top. I have carried on having lessons outside school to keep it up."

The duo marked France and England on a variety of issues on school life -- and British schools were best.

Both Lucille and Adam thought England was better for transport to school, fun lessons, resources and Christmas while France came up top for not wearing a school uniform, a bigger choice of television programmes for children and better break time snacks.