7, 8, and 9 French classes celebrate Poisson D’Avril

April 1st has an interesting history in France, as it was once celebrated as the start of the new year. When this date moved to January in the 1600s, word was slow to travel to some areas of France, and people who continued to celebrate on the old date were mocked. As many people were celebrating Lent and consuming fish, those unaware of the date change were given fake fish as gifts. Over time, this has turned into the French version of April’s Fools day, where French children craft paper fish, write POISSON D’AVRIL somewhere on them, and try to stick them onto their friend’s back, either running away yelling “Poisson d’avril!” or sneaking away and waiting for the discovery. ‘Poisson d’avril’ translates to Fish of April, or April Fish! 

To celebrate this important occasion, the year 7, 8, and 9 French classes had the opportunity to make their own poissons d’avril to sneakily stick onto a friend’s back. Look at some of their beautiful creations below.

Mr de Jong

French Teacher