mitsi

We visited the school earlier this year with a possible view to re locating to the area. I was not too impressed by the fact that the school was on the edge of an industrial site and close to the motorway. There wasn't much outdoor space but to be fair there isn't in a lot of French schools. The teachers we met were lovely and gave us confidence that the school would be a friendly environment.  There were around 70 students and 23 nationalities (much like an innercity school in the UK?), all seemed happy, but a lot of work for the teachers when English maynot be the native tongue. We wanted to go near to Pau for the location and the views, looking to set up gites, potentially. If our daughter went to the school realistically we couldn't be further than 20 mins to 30 mins away for the daily commute, that meant we were totally away from where we wanted to be and prices were higher. With children as young as yours, personally I would put them in a French school. We came here 7 years ago so our children were 2 and 6 and they have no problems with the language. Our problem is the college years, no flexibilty at all. The youngest is struggling, she's had so many different teachers, mainly I think because we are too rural. If I were to come to France again I would choose somewhere more affluent - such as Pau with more facilities. There are 8 colleges and 8 Lycee (I think) in the Pau region and a University. People there are younger and more cosmopolitan. There is a possible other option at Orthez but I couldn't find much information. Having recently gone back to the UK and visited some schools there, we have made our decision to go back. The schools there offer so much more. So after 7 years of wanting to believe the French system is better , it's back to blighty for us, older and wiser? Who knows, but definately different!

Thanks for all the replies. It's a difficult one. certainly her Primary schooling was to a much higher standard than most as the teacher was known to be old school and strict. All the kids that have gone on to college from her, were well ahead of all the others (not just the English kids). Now that the youngest is there with a new teacher I can already see the difference - she is struggling and they are well behind where they should be. I think it just confirms for us another reason to move back to the UK.

My daughter is at our local college, which doesn't have a very good reputation. She comes home from school concerned that she is in a class full of idiots. Not surprising to us, she is the top of her class with a moyenne of just under 17.  My question is, is the mark good because everyone else is so bad - i.e the lessons are dumbed down, or would this mark be the same across France no matter which school she was in?

It wasn't especially clear but when it arrived it was in 2 foot strips, but I can see why as you would need plenty of helpers if it was in longer lengths. More risk of mistakes. I guess 80 ft would do a smaller pool, so you need the additional 10ft strips for a larger pool, plus handy if you make mistakes or need to replace a small portion, if it gets stained or something. You need to lower the water level to below the frieze line, so bear that in mind when you want to fit it - especially if you hit a hot spell. It may pay to wait.

To Bubbles We used the poolstore for the frieze earlier this year - it worked well and certainly looks better than an unsightly stain. It comes in 2 ft strips, which makes it easier to fit but you do need to make sure it is lined up well. We went for the mosaic pattern which is ideal if any more sun cream stains appear - harder to spot, but so far no problem. We had delivery within 3 days from the UK but via seperate parcel company. Poolstore don't deliver but recommend a courier. £200 for 10x5m pool £38 for air mail delivery, less if by road or if you know someone who can bring it over. As for my original post - we still have the faint stains, tried all the suggestions, learning to live with it! We do now have wrinkles in the liner, am I right in thinking it will need to be 'vacuumed' out at the end of the season? It is about 5 years old, should that sort of thing be covered by the 10 year warranty or not? is it relatively cheap/easy to do? Thanks

have pm'd you

Wouldn't algae 'scrape' off with a finger nail? We are located South end of dept 17.

No, I'm pretty sure it's not algae. It's a brown stain. We do suffer with leaves but we've not encountered this type of stain before. Thanks for the advice re scrubbing. I've used a brush, but not seriously scrubbing - just enough to see it makes no difference. We have guests in at the end of the week, so shocking may not be the answer as we might not get it swimmable in time. Your idea of the sock on a slightly bigger scale might work. Could do with something like a 'bar of soap' with a chemical to rub on, but I'll keep looking.

The stain is a brownish colour. One is along half the back ledge that is below the jets the other is by the drain in the deep end about 2 or 3 feet in area. Not sure the sock idea would work, but could be worth a try. Difficult to use any chemical directly of course.

We are having problems with stains on the liner. One is at the roman end on the water line which is probably sun cream, but more worryingly  we have stains in the centre of the well (deep end) and on the ledge below the jets. Up until now the pool has been spotless but not this year  It could be from leaves, but we've not had the problem before. Any ideas? rubbing it doesn't get it off.

I'm getting increasingly frustrated at my daughter's college. She is in 6eme and finding it boring, it seems more like a revision of primaire. I have been told next year she will be more stretched. My biggest concern though is the amount of lessons that are missed because teachers are absent, either on stage/reunion/ teaching a different class/classes are split so one half does technology making a robot the other has to do etude. The amount of etude my daughter has in a week can be as much as 10 lessons due to teachers not turning up. Is this normal? She keeps missing sport (which she doesn't enjoy anyway) and then gets a low mark for something she has barely had time to give a go, which of course affects the moyenne. I have also found out that the college is one of the weakest in the whole department. I'm very disillusioned by it all and in the mean time my daughter gets bored and less inclined to do any additional studies at home. She has given up horse riding and I'm now sensing a very bright child becoming very lazy and unmotivated. Any thoughts?

We came here 5 years ago when the eldest girl was 6 and youngest 2.We have always maintained English only in the home. It took a while for the children to settle. The 6 year old was already well ahead in her English at 6 and has excelled in French, but even now is reluctant to speak it (she has always been very shy)Her college results though are great and there is help there if she needs it. Our biggest problem with her was that she had no encouragement from the teachers at all, until she reached college whare they are full of praise, which has helped her confidence no end. With the 2 year old, she is only now starting to read in English and has been a struggle, but all of a sudden , now she is in cp it is clicking in both languages. We have friends, husband is French, wife American who came over with their children (then 4 and 7)  into a french household (Grandparents that didn't speak English) After almost a year the children almost lost their English and now only speak English in the house. I think the trick is patience and if need be extra lessons to help with homework. If there's a sport the child might enjoy, be it football or horse riding, finding an interest can help to channel the energy.

Actually you missed my point about RHD cars - nothing to do with the steering wheel, what I meant was it would have been set up for the camber of the road for when you drive on the left i.e opposite camber to driving on the right. Most roads have a camber otherwise they would always flood. So on that basis a left hand drive car, or rhd that has been corrected for driving over here could suffer the problem if used in the UK for a lengthy period.

Is your car RHD? I ask because that can affect your tyres when you consider the camber of the road will be the opposite here to the UK. I was advised to get the car correct tracking, and parellelism as well as wheels balanced. It meant going to Bordeaux as the local garages didn't have the facilities to do all 4 wheels(!), but did make a difference. As for driving in the middle of the road, as someone said , with good all round observation for other road users there's no reason why you can't go in the middle, so long as it's safe. It's actually a good way to improve concentration in terms of making you look to see it's safe rather than be on auto pilot. It also reduces the camber effect on tyres.

We are called A.C.T- Anglais Children's Theatre. It is for youngsters aged between 6-16. It is taught in English as we wanted our children to have somewhere once a week to socialise, learn and have fun where they weren't having to cope with the pressures of a second language. We are also reserving places for French children who would like to develop their English language skills through immersion. The first few weeks sessions are 'tasters' for your children to see if they will enjoy it, after which they join the association and pay a minimal fee-This is very much a non- profit venture. We are also considering running week long workshops in the holidays where we would create a performance by the end of the week. If you would like further information, get in touch! Emma - 0546 48 40 01 Salles de Fete, Vanzac (near Jonzac Dept. 17) 2pm - 4pm every Wednesday