Emma

Hi Angela, We moved to the Alps ( 3 Valleys)  just over 3 years ago with our daughter who was then 10. She re-doubled her last year of primary school and picked up the language pretty quickly. The move to College was a little harder for Rosie and the first 2 terms of her first year weren't that good in terms of results.With hindsight we now realise that the primary school who had no experience of foreign students focused completely on her French language skills and all her general education fell by the way side - I don't think this is typical at all - but something to watch out for. We have now opted for a local private school (French speaking) as the class sizes are much smaller  than the local state run college and their published results are brilliant. Overall the move has been excellent for us and the girls and we love life in the Alps. The sporting opportunities are great for children and as Rosie is a great skier she gets lots of subsidised training and the cost to us is minimal.   Best of luck to you all and if you have any questions you think I can help with you can always get in touch.   Emma

Hi - sorry - a very unexciting post! But we live in a small hamlet on a mountain side and all the houses in the village are built on a steep slope. This means that although our neighbours chimney from their boiler meets the French legal requirement that it exceeds the highest point of their roof - it is right in line with our bedroom windows as we are situated up hill from them. This means when their boiler (oil fired) is on we have to keep the windows closed or choke on the terrible fumes. During the summer they have agreed to turn the boiler off between 11pm and 6.30 am ( it still means I have to jump our of bed at 6.30am  and close the windows) but in the winter they like the boiler on for 15 minutes eveery hour as they say it is more cost efficient for them to run it like this and it safe guards the house from freezing. The fumes also come on to our terrrace, so we are trying to enjoy a barbecue and choking on the fumes. It is such a shame as we have lived here in the clean mountain air for a long time ( their house was empty and they have only moved into it now they are retired ). I have told then how bad it is but they are disinclined to do anything about it. Are there any legal bodies that could come and measure the emissions or do anything about it? I don't really want to fall out with them but I don't want my children poisoned either.   Look forward to hearing from anyone.   Thanks, Emma

Hi Lori,   Emma here _ I wrote the original post in this strand. Just a quick up-date! My daughter is still struggling at school although her language skills continue to improve her Maths is still terrible. We are paying for private tuition as the school ( despite having 2000 pupils) say they have no budget to assist foreign students and that she must be treated the same as a French student. Her teachers think she is bright - but lazy and just not bothered, I feel she is becoming dissafected wih so much failure, she is now behind in most subjects. A friend who used to work with special needs children has suggested that she has dyspraxic tendancies however, dyspaxics  ( as far as I know) usually have coordination difficulties / clumsiness and so on as the problem affects motor skills and not just learning. Rosie is not clumsy and does not have any motor problems she is a fantstic ski racer and also ice skater. The tendancies they talk of are around her inability to get things down on paper and her general chaos and complete lack of organisation skills. A question - would it be worth her seeing and Educational psychologist for an assessment? If so, how do I go about finding one? Thanks again! Emma

Thank you so much everyone for your replies so far. I have taken all the advice and have now arranged an appointment with the Directeur and the Prof. Principal on Monday next week to discuss Rosie's progress and what the school are able to do to help her. We have also found a maths tutor to help her catch up privately - I'll let you know how it goes.   Emma

Hi and goood luck with your move - despite a few misgivings re: our daughters education here, it is the best thing we have ever done. My only advice is that which I wish I had known myself before I came.  We moved here over 2 years ago and our daugher who was almost 10 at the time went straight to the local primary school. There were only 2 teachers and 65 pupils and so the teachers were each teaching 3 different age groups of children and already had more than they could cope with on their hands and they just didn't know where to start with an English child. We asked about other school options as there is a larger school only 3 miles away but were told ( by the larger schools headmistress) that it wasn't possible for Rosie to go there as it was a different commune. We have since found out that this isn't the case at all. Although in France it is usual to go to the local school in your commune, you can apply to go to another school elsewhere if you have reson to prefer it. They always told us she was improving - and her language did, but truthfully they had neither the time or resources to devote to her. She repeated the final year of this school and started College this September at 12 and is very behind in all subjects. So - with hindsight, I would go to the school and ask them if they have previously had foreign students and ask what extra help they will be given to help them adapt. Since joining the forum just a few days ago, I have already heard that in some schools children get 8 - 12 hours extra French per week. I also just spoke to a family that have just moved to the midi and their two daughters are both getting 1-1 help with their French with the school director daily. Sadly the only help my daughter got was to be put in the ecole maternelle class with the 4 year olds learning their A,B,C's If the school doesn't have a good plan for helping your children adapt - look at a different school. I wish we had.  Best of luck, Emma

Our family moved here over 2 years ago and for the first 2 years my daughter who was 10 when we arrived went to the local village school. Frankly, I don't think they knew where to start with her and have just left her to learn the language for the last 2 years. Her spoken French is OK bt she has a way to go with the written work. She was never very academic and now she has started at college we are shocked to find just how behind she is - in everything. She can't remember anything from school in England  and is really struggling and the teachers just seem to shrug and don't appear to have the time or resources to do anything. There are no international schools in the area and we don't want her to board as we like our children at home with us. I remember a couple of polish children coming to the school in England and the school were falling over themselves to help with extra language lessons and one to one teaching - all funded by local governement. does anyone know if anything like this is possible in France or have any other suggestions that may help her? We are do worried. Thanks,Emma