Mistral

It's probably just me not being very intelligent, but I really can't understand how you can anounce an official population number when you have only a small amount of that popluation being recensé every year.  I don't get how a few people every year is more accurate than everybody once every ten years. The last time I remember filling in the census was back in 1992 (I think)

I've met our maire quite a few times now. Mostly at fêtes and foires because if there's a chance he can get his picture in the paper, he's there. We get delivered the  municipal magazine once a month (very glossy) and he usually manages to have at least one photo of him on every page and his name in the first paragraph of every article. We never thought of going and introducing ourselves when we arrived here (in 1993) but since there are around 25,000 people in the commune, I don't think it is expected. You would probably end up greeting an ajoint. The town we lived in before was even bigger and the maire had political ambitions so he was more often at the assemblée nationale than in the town.

I agree with cjb that experience (or at least length of time as a teacher) counts for more than quality of teaching. Teachers (in the state system) start at echelon 1 and go up to echelon 11. They move up at a set rate (gaps between the echelons vary from 3 months between ech 1 and ech 2 and 4 years -I think- between ech 10 and ech 11) That's moving up at "ancienté". If a teacher has a good inspection, they might be graded enough to move up at "choix" or even "grand choix" This can mean changing echelons between 6 months and 2 years early. Inspections usually come about once every 5/7 years and are based on one hour's teaching and an interview.

As Battypuss said, even if there is a strike, schools have to take pupils, they are not allowed to refuse them access. I have been told that primary schools have to take pupils unless all the teachers are on strike in which case they are allowed to close (I've never checked) I know that secondary schools have to take pupils; It's very rare for all the teachers of a set secondary class to be on strike (despite what the kids would have you believe) and even if they are, the school still has a responsibility to take pupils. Thursday's strike has been called by all the major teachers' unions, but not all teachers are union members (I would guess less than half) not that prevents them from striking

As Jane said, the main problem is the fact that the French system has trouble letting go of competetive exams. The CAPES/agrég aren"t really teaching qualifications, they are competetive civil service exams. Once you've passed one of them, you are a civil servant and your pay is then calculated on a civil servant rate. I was a M.A. (the old name for contactuel or vactaire) before taking the CAPES and when I went from being non-titulaire to being titulaire, the wage increase was nice, but not enormous, not mush more than going up an echelon.    

Not that I want to put down any teachers , but better paid teachers tend to be happier than those who feel they are hard done by.Happy teachers mean happier children.. On average, teachers in French private schools are paid less than those in state schools. Choosing to work in the state system rather than private (or vice versa) is more to do with various things including religion, attachment to a particular region and political convictions than with teaching ability or wages.

Just a waring, there's a strike planned for next Thursday, 20th January. I'm pretty sure, it's only state schools but I don't know if it will be secondary only, or primary as well. In my husband's school, there will be no cantine as the ATOSS will be on strike too. Here's the SNES tract about it http://www.snes.edu/snesactu/article.php3?id_article=1277 They mention that there will be  PTT (that's good I didn't realise they were still called that) and SNCF strikes next week too.

Writing stories??!! No, they don't generally do that sort of thing. I remember working with a group of adults who were preparing the bac and part of the English exam was picture description. They were fine on the description bit, but when I asked them to give their opinions on why the people were ther, what they had been doing before etc, they just couldn't do it. It's back to the same problem of not being encouraged to have a personal opinion about things. When will they learn about things? Well, even in CP my daughter had a book called "decouverte du monde" and they noted things in it. It was mainly animals and seasons and that sort of thing. Otherwise, as they go on in primaire, they will follow the set curriculum in history, geography and science. The rest seems to depend on the teacher and what they want to do with them.

The CP teacher wasn't helpful - she just said he never listened so that was that. I was told that too (it was true) My husband was also told she needed to see an orthophonist but the teacher didn't seem to be able to say why. When pushed,  she said she had problems with sounds but got confused when I asked if she meant recognising or producing them. They only used Mika for one year, then the teacher went back to the maternelle to shout at the kids there at Mika went into the  cupboard  

SB, if had known before.......   I don't much like very little babies, I prefer them when they start getting interested and interesting (after about 3 months) Can't see the photo either, can you try again?

I've been hearing commnets about how the BCG won't be obligatory because it is no longer as effective for a while, but I haven't found any concrete info yet. The ministry website still says that the BCG is obligatory to register for a school along with the DTP. All the others are just recommended not obligatory. http://www.education.gouv.fr/prat/inscripele.htm  

Oh I am so glad to meet another Mika hater. Child #2 learnt with that system. I felt there was far too much emphasis on learning the texts and on recognising the "whole words". the phonetic (ok syllabique) bit came far too late. And, she didn't really like Mika either. She's the kind of child who is usually interested in other people/characters so I though it would interest her but, no. Child #1 learnt with abracadralire which started with whole words and  went on to syllabique breakdown very quickly. It was very strucutred and easy to follow whereas Mika wasn't very clear (I ended up buying the teachers' book but it didn't make it much clearer) Mika was new to the school last year, and this year they've got another method, so I obviously I wasn't the only one with doubts about it. At the end of a year, they could both read. But at the end of the first term, #1 was managing to work out unknown words whereas #2 either knew words or didn't. She's in CE1 now and has taught herself to break words down into their relative parts, but last year was stressful and traumatic for all concerned. How much of this was personality I can't say.

My kids are French nationals and they had their ID's from a couple of months old. As Janealain said, you don't get sent them, you have to apply. Most french people don't bother until they are 18 unless they want to travel outside of France. I think you need one to get a driving licence. I have been told (but have never checked) that you don't actually have to have ID on you if you are in the company of two other people who can prove theirs and can vouch for you. It sounds more complicated than keeping a card in your pocket. I still haven't put in my application for French ID, the French birth cert has come (very quickly) but I haven't got round to going to a photograpers to do the photos.

French chocolates (especially the pyrenéens), calissons, foie gras, I once sent some of those little knife rests my mother in law uses. for friends with kids I send French style clothes. My sister always wanted to dress her daughte in one of those hats with the fur round the brim and scarf bits flapping down to be wrapped round.

Gill, I've checked with the childminder, she's heard of the leaving an extra place thing, but doesn't know any more than that. There should be three white table cloths and three candles (for the trinity) but she just does them on the 24th. She doesn't know anything about sage leaves but says it is traditional to eat sage soup on the 25th against indigestion. She leaves the crumbs on the table (for the reindeer) Oh and she says the santons should be put out on 4th December (st Barbe) and put away on 2nd February (chandleur-presentation)

Gill's comment about the extra place (yes, I've heard it but can't place it, I'll check with the childminder tomorrow, she is as provençale as they come) reminded me of another one. Again, I don't know if it's provençal or not, but you are supposed to put three table cloths on the table, the first is for 24th December, the second for 25th and the thrid is for new year, although i can't remember if it's the 31st or the 1st.  At the end of each meal, you just take one off (where you are suppose to eat between christmas and new year, isn't clear)

In my last school we had a section (a UPI)for visually impaired pupils, they had a few of lessons a week with a specialised teacher and the rest of the time they were in class with the others and a classroom assistant. In this school we have a pupil in a wheelchair (he has other disabilities but I don't know what) and he too has a classroom assistant. These are the positive stories. When the head first mentioned we would have a pupil in a wheelchair it wasn't well received. most staff didn't like the idea of having an extra adult in the room and French teachers on the whole aren't very good at adapting for "different" pupils. I know that both times, it only happened because people fought hard to get it work and at the same time we opened the UPI my husband's school refused to take a pupil in a wheelchair because he needed an oxygen bottle. Both of my examples are also for children whose special needs are purely physical. To be perfectly honest, children with learning difficulties are still not really welcome in class despite what the government might say. Teachers aren't trained to deal them and are so used to dealing with the middle band, that the extremes get left to one side. My suggestion would be to find a smaller school (and I mean one with less pupils per class- not less children in the whole school) this might mean looking at the private (catholic) schools. Good luck

A lot of this is graphisme, they need to learn how to hold a pencil well and do things like draw a straight line or a circle before they can go onto writing (which is a lot of lines and circles) I have no hassles with that. What does annoy me is the amount of effort that has to go into making the right sort of lines and circles. My son's CP/CE1 teacher would underline ever single time his pen cut through the lines when he was writing. But then presentation is very important here. Points are given for good presentation. If she is in GS, then she won't be learning to read yet, that isn't until CP, most GS classes concentrate on getting them to recognise the alphabet written the three ways (printed, capitals and joined up -all those horrible loops)and to write letters with the three styles. Personally I hate the time and effort wasted on loopy French handwriting because I see children spend hours getting the letters just so, and forget that the most important thing is content. I also have a problem with the fact that the letters are taught by name and not by sound, which makes learning to read harder When my eldest learnt to read he learnt with a mostly phonetic system and he had to learn what sounds went with what letter combinations. He never had long lists of words to memorise (unless you include a poem a month) the second one was in CP last year, she learnt with a mostly "whole word" method, which was useless, but again, no long lists of words to memeorise. She had to reread the day's text with us, but that was all. On the other hand since it was  a "semi globale" method, she was expected to recognise the words and her method was to recite the text by heart like your daughter but that wasn't what the teacher expected. Recitation is still important here, if your daughter's teacher is of the old school, then she will feel reassured by it. So will most of the parents, most of the parents at the school gate tell me they help their children to learn by getting them to learn things by heart. This is one of the problems with the start of collège. A lot of parents (and pupils) think that learbning the lesson by heart and then reciting it, is enough. It isn't, they have to know, understand and use it. I get very frustrated when I have pupils who can recite a grammar rule off to me and then when they start writing, just throw words together and hope.

Good question Dick, when I set this sort of question, I give the  sources. This is from my experiences in a French family. they are from Brittany but have lived in Normandy and Lorraine and have been in Provence for the last 20 years. Here in Provence, the first thing for Christmas is 4th December. It's St Barbe's day. Traditionally you plant the chrsitmas wheat (on cotton wool like mustard and cress) Traditionally it's wheat but it can be lentills. If it's planted on 4th Dec, then it's grown enough to go on the christmas table as decoration. In the east of France on 6th Dec, there is St Nicolas day (read the sweet tooth post) children who have been good get chocolates in their boots and if they have been bad, they get coal (happened to my husband once) Next stage would be setting up the santons. We have small clay crib scenes, which are set in provencal villages and don't only contain the religious characters but also have the local people from the beginning of the 19th century. You find these in other parts of France, but there come from here and down here we have foires de santons (went yesterday) all through the month of December. Christmas eve is the important day. In my husband's family we get together at about 6pm and  we'll probably sit down to eat at around 8. We usually dress up in smart clothes (don't think this is a French thing more a family thing) We will then stay at table all evening, with lots of small courses of traditional food (often foie gras, sea food and things like that) Sometimes we have a main dish, but often not. The 13 desserts tradtion comes from the time when people would walk to church in the cold for midnight mass and then walk home again. They are things like dried fruits, nougat, calissons and bread made with olive oil, things that add quick energy (it's interesteing that muslims eat the same sort of things when they break ramadan fast) We always have them on the table but we have an ice cream bûche as well. You can find an officla list on the internet easily enough (I can't remember them all) Some are pretty standard but the last few vary from family to family. As for presents, they don't have stockings. The presents are given on 24th December. My husband remembers a time as a child when he was woken up at midnight to open his presents. It's more likely that the presents will be given some time in the evening, either just before sitting down to eat or before dessert.  If there are just adults, then they will quite often wait until midnight. In my husband's family, the children are put in another room and the presents are put under the tree in piles for each person with one of their shoes nect to it. (don't know how much this is a family thing)   Hope this is of some use good luck on the essay

I wrote a very long reply and then got timed out (no way did i take 40 mins to type it) Here's what I remember. We keep being told that redoublement doesn't work. Obviously it suits the government to have as few redoublants as possible. they cost more. The problem in France is that every year has a set curriculum and if a child hasn't managed to complete this, then they are probably going to have trouble managing the following year. Back in the bad old day, it was easy. They retook the year in the hope that an extra year would resolve everything. Whether or not it would be useful or effective wasn't taken into acount. For the last few years, we have been very strongly encouraged to think about the usefulness and probable effectiveness of a redoublement before suggesting it.  The question is what effectiveness we are looking for. Most studies seem to looking for proof that an extra year will turn a child into a genius. Most pupils and their families just hope for an improvement, not a miracle. In fact the first paragraph of the article is a good example " studies show that pupils who retake the CP don't do as well as those who go straight up"  Retaking the CP is quite rare and it is generally suggested when a child hasn't learnt to read after a year's worth of teaching. For a lot of these children, an extra year isn't going to be enough, they probably need more help than that. But since the system doesn't offer anything else, I think that at least letting them try again for a year, especially at that age, is the least we can do. Otherwise what are they going to do in CE1, without extra help and having to learn grammar as well? As you have probably guessed, I'm pro redoublement. It shocked me and I was quite negative when I first moved out here but I have seen enough successes to believe in it. I've seen failures too, but most are when the school didn't think it through and suggested redoublement as a knee jerk reaction, or when the child or family didn't accept it. Redoublement works well for pupils who are of average plus intelligence with no particular problems. It gives them an extra year to get their act together, think things through and get down to work. At least we no longer (or at lot less) force pupils who just haven't got what it takes to stay in collège until they are old enough to vote without actually improving their results. Unfortunately we don't have any other options for these pupils. I think the government would do better to look seriously at these pupils and try to find workable methods of helping them because at the moment we are failing them (understatement of the year)

Félicitations

I'll be shot by my collègues for saying this, but you know that the school has to accept children over 6 even on strike days. I have been told that primary schools don't have to if the whole school is closed, but I've also been told that this is rubbish and the head has to open and take the kids. A collège can't send a child home because he hasn't got any teachers if he is non autorisé. When my school did a total strike a few years ago, we had to ring all the parents to collect their kids and those we didn't contact stayed at school day

I used to teach in a school just down the road from a French air force base; I swear those pilots waited until I said the words "let's listen to the cassette" before setting off. Then they sent the Concorde there to be tested

I  haven't heard anything about next week. Maybe it's only primary. Apparently the primary unions didn't call their members out on yesterday's strike because the projet de loi didn't actually have much to say about primary, except for encouraging language learning. Mixed situation in my school yesterday. Some classes only had one absent teacher in the day, others only had two present. It didn't seem to make much difference to the number of pupils who came. I generally had half classes.

Jane, I'm glad it's not just my in-laws.  I finally came to the realisation that people try to understand things by relating them to things they already understand. But I really felt that if my in-laws couldn't find a French version of something then it automatically had to be bad and undesirable (probably because they had trouble accepting that France doesn't have everything, anything you don't have in france isn't worth the effort  )  The moment I realised I was never going to win was when I was making nasi goreng. In came mother in law "oh, paella" she said. I explained (at length) what it was. In came father in law; "Look" says MIL "she's making Chinese paella"