Berlioz

Thanks Val, It is because I dislike rose tinted specs that I use/trust this forum.  I never though this move was going to be easy but it is turning into a nightmare. 

This is a subject that yet again, is causing me a lot of worry too.  Only yesterday our 11yo was evaluated as having 'moderate dyslexia', and associated memory problems, sequencing  etc.  Her best skills are verbal.  I am still a bit shocked.  My concerns had been dismissed by her schools for years as her not being as 'academic' as her older sister, just average.   After spending ages researching Coeliac  desease in French schools before christmas (with some really helpful folkes on here)  and thinking things were starting to fall into place,I now have to deal with this too! I spent last night surfing and learning as much as I can about the condition and we will get help for her here ASAP but as we have to move in the summer. What on earth should I be doing in regard to choosing a school.  I am assuming that a small College Privee is the best idea as opposed to  the large college with International section which had appeared the best idea initially.  We had planned to visit schools again next week but I need to know quickly how the system works in this case.  I am assuming that even a traslation of our written report will not be accepted in France? is there a deadline application date for College Prive, will schools refuse to take her as a 'problem' pupil? Should I get her assessed under the French system (I understand it is seen more as a medical/speach problem there) before trying to have her inscripted into a school???? I would really appreciate some guidance from parents of dyslexics or teachers in the system. Thanks in anticipation, D

We are planning to get married in October.  Here are a some links from my 'wedding' file. http://brittany.angloinfo.com/information/2/marriage.asp http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1064572954547 http://www.consulfrance-londres.org/article.php3?id_article=316 We have got our file from the mayors office, they were very helpfull and marked what we would need, and made a point of saying that the certs could not be more than 6 months old.  I have had to park my plans for the moment due to other circumstances.  We had been planning to move in the summer and get married in October. Good luck, D    

Hi Penny I did PM you when I found your message the other day.  But I suspect that like me you did not know that notifications are not going out for PMs! Yes, I would really appreciate any details about the new system. Thanks Donna  

We are going to Toulouse  at the end of January to try and find a small furnished flat/studio for up to a year until we have a better idea of the local area and find a family house. I have had listings sent from immostreet.com for a while so have a rough idea of what is available at what price. If anyone local has any tips on good local Estate Agents and/or areas which are 'good' and areas to 'avoid like the plague' in the city it would help to narrow down our search a bit. Which streets are blocked in the rush hour? which roads are 'rat runs' What is crime like? We know the area around the Capitole as we usually stay in quite central hotels. We have seen the disruption caused by the metro extension and did get caught up in rush hour traffic recently! Thanks in anticipation, D  

Thanks Mistral that is a kind offer.  I will PM you if I get stuck. Donna

Thank you for the links Mistral.  I havn't been on the forum for ages and the alerts obviously didn't carry over to the new one so I had not seen your reply. My daughter is doing really well on the gluten free diet. Even translated through google (my french isn't very good yet) there is a lot of the kind of info I have been looking for. Thanks again Donna  

Thank you Lilly I didn't get an e-mail prompt and havn't been on the forum for a while so had not seen your reply.  She will be allready going down a year to 6 in sept 06 as she will be nearly 12.  I did ask if she could do the FFL in the primary school and it isn't possible.  I can understand why they want at least some French language as I understand (from friends who live in France and who have children in the system) that there is a lot to keep up with in College and a lot of homework.  We have some leads to follow up and now that Christmas is over I must start on my very, very long 'to do'    

Hi Penny What are they replacing the points system with?  I'v got fibromyalgia, IBS, and new this week -  gluten intolerance/could be coeliac! same as my daughter.  I have been on long term ICB for 18 months and found the 'old' system difficult enough as my symptoms are never the same each day, some days the 'Brain Fog' hits me and I find my car keys in the fridge, forget to collect the kids from school, can't remember how to spell simple words,other days the pain is so bad I write off the day and go back to bed.  I have terrible trouble with stairs etc etc.  I am due for 'review' in February and would like advance warning of which mountains I will have to climb!  We are moving to France in June as my day to day health is much better in warm weather. I my mother has severe Rheumatoid so I have been helping her fill in the forms for years and knew about the points system, I would have possibly not have scored 'enough' simply because on a 'good' day I tend to forget how bad I am on a bad day or during a flare up.  I know that people on ICB are going to be 'helped' back to work, but much as I would love to return to work I am simply not up to it. I would really appreciate any info on this as it is really starting to worry me! Brain Fog today so sorry about the spelling! Donna    

Please can someone tell me how far in  advance I need to contact Newcastle?  We are planning to move at the end of June next year. I have, amongst other things, fibromyalgia and am on longterm Incapacity Benefit, with age allowance as I am really very young to be on the scrapheap!  My daughter has recently diagnosed Coeliac so we have gluten free flour, bread etc on prescription for her.  We are currently having A LOT of scans, diagnostic proceedures and visits to to our Consultants which I hope will be finished soon.  I understand that IB is 'portable' to France from my earlier research on this forum and checking on the DWP website. I do have a list of English speaking doctors and Gastro Consultants and plan to visit at Easter and arrange our transfer to the French system. Any advice from anyone who has actually managed the process would be really helpful. D  

Thanks Julie, I will contact some of the teachers in my area.  You came out top of my list actually! I'll e-mail you.  Regards Donna  

Thank you Miaviv, I have e-mailed Maison de l'Europe and Acdomia for further details. We though we had everything sorted out and only found out we had been given the wrong information the last morning we were there! I have sent you a PM. Regards Donna

I will also post this in Education and Earning a Living. Having read some postings here I am hoping that someone is either is a FFL teacher looking for some work  here in UK now or will know of one in the Toulouse area for next year. We are moving to Toulouse next summer.  We were told by our proposed College that our 11yo would need to do 2 months of intensive FFL French with Alliance Francaise in addition to having private lessons in the Uk (we live near Cambridge). In preparation to joining 6ieme in Sept 06. Also that we would need to arrange after school lessons and help with other subjects taught in French so that she does not fall behind. Although my partner speaks fluent French he will be working in the UK a lot. We visited AF last week hoping to get more info on levels of classes for 11yo (2nd year of french), 16yo (GCSE A*)   and me ??yo .  After having got prices (ouch!) by e-mail from them last month. They said they don't have any childrens classes for under 17s, but could offer individual tuition!!! They didn't know why we had been given the wrong information. The person who sent the e-mail was not in the office that day. So what are my options?  Are there any language schools that do take children? I think we would all benefit from the social interaction of a small class.  Or are private lessons at home our only option? We have had  very good Maths and English teachers from a UK internet agency in the past but they have no FFL teacher in our area available.  

I will also post this in Education. Having read some postings here I am hoping that someone is either is a FFL teacher looking for some work  here in UK now or will know of one in the Toulouse area for next year. We are moving to Toulouse next summer.  We were told by our proposed College that our 11yo would need to do 2 months of intensive FFL French with Alliance Francaise in addition to having private lessons in the Uk (we live near Cambridge). In preparation to joining 6ieme in Sept 06. Also that we would need to arrange after school lessons and help with other subjects taught in French so that she does not fall behind. Although my partner speaks fluent French he will be working in the UK a lot. We visited AF last week hoping to get more info on levels of classes for 11yo (2nd year of french), 16yo (GCSE A*)   and me ??yo .  After having got prices (ouch!) by e-mail from them last month. They said they don't have any childrens classes for under 17s, but could offer individual tuition!!! They didn't know why we had been given the wrong information. The person who sent the e-mail was not in the office that day. So what are my options?  Are there any language schools that do take children? I think we would all benefit from the social interaction of a small class.  Or are private lessons at home our only option? We have had  very good Maths and English teachers from a UK internet agency in the past but they have no FFL teacher in our area available. I hope I can get this to post! D

I will also post this in Education. Having read some postings here I am hoping that someone is either is a FFL teacher looking for some work  here in UK now or will know of one in the Toulouse area for next year. We are moving to Toulouse next summer.  We were told by our proposed College that our 11yo would need to do 2 months of intensive FFL French with Alliance Francaise in addition to having private lessons in the Uk (we live near Cambridge). In preparation to joining 6ieme in Sept 06. Also that we would need to arrange after school lessons and help with other subjects taught in French so that she does not fall behind. Although my partner speaks fluent French he will be working in the UK a lot. We visited AF last week hoping to get more info on levels of classes for 11yo (2nd year of french), 16yo (GCSE A*)   and me ??yo .  After having got prices (ouch!) by e-mail from them last month. They said they don't have any childrens classes for under 17s, but could offer individual tuition!!! They didn't know why we had been given the wrong information. The person who sent the e-mail was not in the office that day. So what are my options?  Are there any language schools that do take children? I think we would all benefit from the social interaction of a small class.  Or are private lessons at home for some or all of us our only option? We have had  very good Maths and English teachers from a UK internet agency in the past but they have no FFL teacher in our area available at the moment.      

Debra I have sent you a PM, re permission from ex husband. Donna

I had the answer to the lunch issue in 'Education' so know what the procedure is now. I did try a search on here but nothing came up. We live near a huge Waitrose which was my first stop after seeing the consultant!  The bread  is really expensive and tastes awful so she won't eat it but the pasta is Ok! We do have a breadmaker so will try making some when I have collected the gluten free flour etc from the doctors later. Lots of people assume that it is just wheat that has to be avoided but rye, barley, oats and anything derived from them like thickeners etc are also off limits.  There is a vast amount of info on the net and I am on a steep learning curve at the moment! Does anyone know of a French web site with medical info regarding prescriptions, % covered under the health system?

Thank you  Mistral. I just knew it would be more complicated than here! I  had a word with the Cook at her middle school. They will do salad with no dressing, meat with no gravy,breadcrumbs etc the weekly menu is on their website so I will check it and send in a cold packed lunch on 'Pasta' days. Some Gluten free products are free on prescription here, I wonder if the situation is the same in France?  I will check out the local supermarkets next time we are over.  The one thing that has really upset Lydia is she was so looking forward to lovely French bread every day.The gluten free stuff is about £3 for a tiny loaf tasts like cardboard and she won't eat it!  

Yesterday we had a diagnosis of coeliac disease (gluten allergy) for our very tiny 11yo. thank god for PPP...   NHS would never have found it this decade as she didn't have all the classical symptoms. Still in shock really. We had already found schools (International for our 16yo to do Int IB, and French College with british section/IGCSE  for 11yo ) and were planning to move next summer to  France and are having intensive french lessons.   (info from forum members incredibly helpful in this quest and choice of final location based entirely on schooling, see my previous postings) Eventually I hope we will move towards a med climate before I cease up all together/am too old to care We are clearly a family with major auto immune health problems, (I have fibromyalgia which virtually dissapears in summer /dry weather and when in the south of France out of constant drizzle!) I'm a bit like human seaweed weather prediction!  so now I am asking forum members if anyone has any experience in the 'problem' health area re schooling/availability of gluten free foods/healthcare etc in France. ( i.e is it possible to take a packed lunch to school?) Our daughter is an incredibly plucky child and is really looking forward to moving to France. I am currently in receipt of  Incapacity Benefit which will continue in France and enable me, and my dependants to join the French system without too much cost (I think based on the UK Gov web site and searching the health forum) My other half (who is bilingual) will continue to consult to the UK wine industry commuting to London with his Ltd Co. We are planning to swap living in UK  and commuting to France to living the other way round with no mortgage as I am now effectively unemployable as an accountant I will also post this on the Education forum. Thanks to all. Donna  

Yesterday we had a diagnosis of coeliac disease for our very tiny 11yo. thank god for PPP...   NHS would never have found it this decade as she didn't have classical symptoms. Still in shock really. We had already found schools (International for our 16yo and French College with british section for 11yo ) and were planning to move next summer to  France and are having intensive french lessons.   (info from forum members incredibly helpful in this quest and choice of final location based entirely on schooling, see my previous postings) Eventually I hope we will move towards a med climate before I cease up all together/am too old to care We are clearly a family with major auto immune health problems, (I have fibromyalgia which virtually dissapears in summer /dry weather and when in the south of France out of constant drizzle!) so now I am asking forum members if anyone has any experience in the 'problem' health area re schooling/availability of gluten free foods/healthcare etc in France. ( i.e is it possible to take a packed lunch to school?) Our daughter is an incredibly plucky child and is really looking forward to moving to France. I am currently claiming Incapacity Benefit which will continue in France and enable me, and my dependants to join the French system without too much cost (I think based on the UK Gov web site and searching the health forum) My other half (who is bilingual) will continue to consult to the UK wine industry commuting to London with his Ltd Co. We are planning to swap living in UK  and commuting to France to living the other way round with no mortgage as I am now effectively unemployable as an accountant I will also post this on the heath forum. Thanks to all. Donna        

We are moving to Toulouse  next summer. Our GP is leaving out a form for us to collect on Saturday when we go to the flu jab clinic, to take to our local hospital to get our 11yo TB jab done, it wasn't a problem at all. Once it has been done they will do me a printout of all the jabs both my girls have had since birth for their French schools. I haven't got any paperwork from the French College yet so am not sure if I need any other medical reports for inscription (we have yesterday had it confirmed that she has coeliac disease)  

I am like human seaweed weather forecasting, I know without even opening the curtains what the weather is like, it really is a skill I could live without  My consultant actually advised moving to 'southern europe'!! (We have to be in France rather than Spain for business reasons) Initially we need to be close to the Pibrac/Colomiers area because of School transport issues.  So perfect rheumatic climate within France will have to be the next move, it is really helpful to get suggestions.

We are over again in November and hoping to see more of the area, thanks for the tip.

[quote]hello I lived in Cambridge for 20 years, then South-West England (where it rained EACH day for 7 months...) and now live 30 miles South-West of Toulouse. Providing you live up on the hills and not i...[/quote] I think we will have to be on the flat for a while to be near the International School. Pitty as I fancied some gentle hills... I don't like the sound of -12 either! We were in Isle Jordan and Toulouse last week and I though it was colder in the mornings but hotter in the afternoons. We only had one dull day. I thought it all looked very green and am surprised that there are water problems in the Dept.

We looked round the International school in Toulouse and will almost certainly send our 16yo there, then Uni in England later.  If our move goes ahead. Our 11 yo will hopefully go into the international (english) section at the local college. It is rather frightening the assumptions made about how 'easy' it is to get kids into the french system I am really glad that I made my original post Education was always going to be the key issue for us,. Thanks again for everyone who helped so much. We can't live in the region we would have chosen for a few years but better this than children who  fail to reach their potential. Sarah I have sent a PM.