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An Explanation of the French System of EducationFirst StepsFor those of you who have come to France bringing your kids with you, you may have found the education that greeted them was not what you expected or hoped for. Primarily, if you were like me, you might not have expected it to be so different. After all the aim of the European Union is to create one united continent with free passage of goods, people and knowledge between the member states. However, every country is different, and to a certain extent, the educational structure of a country is what defines it and what perpetuates the values and operating beliefs of that society. I believe that to be able to get the best out of the French schools we need to try and understand what the beliefs and values are that they are supporting; in other words what they are trying to achieve. To be objective is to be constructive, and this is what matters when it comes to steering your children through a foreign maze. The basic structure France is divided up into Academies for educational purposes. There is the Academie de Nantes, which covers the Pays de la Loire for instance. The rectors of these Academies are in ultimate charge; as you can see the power base is a long way from the consumer, which of course is a primary difficulty in getting anything done. It is these Academies which appoint all the teachers and this means that head teachers have little or no say in what goes on in their own school. This lack of autonomy and power means that they are often disenchanted and switched off from what is going on in their own school and are just waiting for retirement, or are looking for a posting which will suit them better. The Academies also send round inspectors on a regular basis to check that teachers are teaching according to the rulebook. If they are not, and are found out then it means a decrease in pay, which is not very big anyway! These inspectors also check that the head teacher is staying within very rigid guidelines as to how a school should be run. These can vary from trivia such as teachers using the right color chalk to write on a particular area of the blackboard, as to how the lesson plan registers are filled out. As you can imagine, there is not much job satisfaction here and in my experience the staff rooms are full of ‘burnt out cases’. Ecole Maternelle Ecole maternelle is the nursery. It is free and is open to every child from its second birthday as long as they are clean. And make sure they are! Accidents are frowned on and can often merit a smack at least. One little boy in my son’s class, (the equivalent of reception in England) was told off and made to clean his pee up. As discipline is strict there is little or no bullying and everything is very ordered and organized. Spontaneity is not encouraged but it is an environment where the child is monitored and occupied. On the whole, I think the kids seem happy even though they are left at an early age for very long stretches of time. However, testing starts early and you will find that reports home are critical and tend to concentrate on what your child can’t do rather than what they can. Hours are 09:00 to 16.30 with supervised meal times and crèches either end of the day. Lunch can be ordered and paid for from the mairie if you cannot have your child home to lunch and there is a school bus in country areas, which is also organized by the mairie. On the whole, I think that if you come with a child of nursery school age it is advisable to get them into ecole maternelle as soon as possible. The greatest acquisition of language takes place before the age of five and so your child has the opportunity to learn the language as a French child would. Moreover, it may help avoid them having to redouble. The obligatory age for starting school is six in France and this is in CP (cours primaire). Many French children have to redouble, even at this early age because it is dictated by the state that they should be literate and numerate by the time they leave CP! Ecole Primaire Your local primary school may have the ecole maternelle attached in which case the transition is easy. Your child must go in the term he or she turns six, but if he or she is already in ecole maternelle you may find that the transition is not so straightforward. According to birthdays and numbers in classes, your child may go from grande section to CP (classe primaire) the year before if they have an early birthday and either spend two years in that class, or if they are coping with the work go up to CE (classe elementaire) a year early. This means that a bright, academic child may end up taking their Brevet when they are 14, not 15 or 16. It is worth noting here that education is obligatory and parents who defy this may end up with a hefty fine to pay and even a prison sentence. You generally have to send your children to the school in which catchment area you live. However, it is worth seeing the head teacher and the school first and asking them point blank whether they have a problem with teaching foreign kids, if they have any special facilities in place and are prepared to order FLE classes (Francais Comme une Langue Etrangere) for your child if necessary. There is an unfortunate attitude prevalent, especially in the primaries that a child who cannot speak, read and write French, as its mother tongue must be mentally deficient. If they struggle, which of course they do, the tendency is to mark them down as remedial and in need of soutien which is to be avoided at all costs as your child may already be on the route to SEGPA (school for those with learning and behavioural problems). If you can find a school, which is receptive towards foreign children this would be a good start! The classes go like this:
This information has been supplied by thisfrenchlife.com |
