A MUM-of-two has seen incredible success after launching her own business offering ‘fun French’ classes for families.

Andrea Baker, from Chapelford, has seen her Les Petits Pois French classes reach as far as Australia.

The former high school French teacher, mum to 10-year-old Joseph and seven-year-old Charlie, launched her classes in 2015 for parents and children aged up to eight years.

Warrington Guardian:

Andrea teaching a Les Petit Pois classes

Andrea, 39, said: “The classes are for the whole family, it gives the opportunity for them to have quality time together.

“What makes Les Petits Pois so special is that sessions are as much for the parents as for the children.

“Parents don’t just sit on their phones but actively engage in what is going on.”

Classes have between 12 and 20 participants, and a typical session will include a welcome song, a craft activity, circle time, sensory play and bubbles at the end – a real highlight for the kids.

Themes covered include parts of the body, animals, books, colours, counting, food, and much more.

Andrea is even writing a book and has produced more than 100 songs for the classes – most of which she wrote herself, but which also include traditional French tunes.

The engaging sessions involve singing and dancing with props to the songs, and Andrea – who is originally from St Helens but has lived in Warrington for seven years – hopes to bring out some festive songs for Christmas.

Warrington Guardian:

She added: “I ever went back to teaching high school I think they’d have to give me a sports hall.”

Ironically, being forced to move her sessions online during the pandemic meant the business took off.

Andrea created pre-recorded videos, bought a green screen and launched her website – all alongside home-schooling her own children.

However, returning to in-person classes meant she could see the real impact she was having on those attending her classes.

“It just went a bit crazy because people all around the country joined in, and by April I was contacted by families in Australia,” she said.

“When we came back in person, I felt really honoured to do the job that I do.

“You can see children gaining that little bit more confidence – little things like that which you don’t see online.”

Warrington Guardian:

Andrea’s passion for French began when she went on a week-long exchange at just nine years old to live with a family in France.

She only knew a few words and a song at the time, which ‘lit a spark’ in her to be able to speak the language properly one day.

“It gives you a superpower – I’m literally a different person when I speak French,” Andrea said.

“It’s magical and crazy, because I feel so much more confident when I’m speaking it.”

Andrea is still in touch with her French exchange who, in many ways, has lived a parallel life to her -she teaches English in a primary school, has children of a similar age and even went on her honeymoon in Las Vegas in the same month.

Teaching her children French from a young age was what inspired Andrea to launch her own business.

She said: “It was just natural for me to start them learning French early – I sang to them in French, we got them bilingual toys and we tuned in to all the French channels.

“I was amazed at how they engaged with it – you could see they absolutely loved it from their big smiles.”

The lockdown success means Andrea has reached the stage where she can franchise her business, and hopes that Les Petit Pois classes will eventually be run across the north west.