Mistral

I can't help with the securté social side but I've had three babies in France. Most people go and see a gynaecologist from the start (in fact from before) so maybe the doctor assumed you were going to see one too because he certainly didn't do the things he should have. The important thing in France is the "declaration de grossesse" which has to be filled in before 14 weeks and sent to the CAF/ secu. Quite a lot of doctors in france accept a home test result and don't bother with doing a HGC blood test. BUT your doctor should prescribe tests for rhesus, toxoplasmosis and  rubella. if you aren't protected against toxo, then you will have to have blood tests every month. The doctor probably won't do the blood tests. he will send you to a laboratory to get them done. There are three "standard" scans in france 11 wks, 24wks and 32 wks (more or less) A lot of gyns do a scan every month. As for what to eat (or not)  The French don't seem to be as worried as the British. Try to avoid unpasturised milk products (if it doesn't say 'pasturisé' then it probably isn't) and be careful with charcuterie that isn't sous vide. Toxo can be caught from undercooked beef or mutton. I never bothered with seeing a gyn until the last few months, and my GP dealt with my pregnancies (prescribing scans, blood tests etc) but it's not very common and many GPs have never had to follow a pregnancy. If you have a PMI (protection maternelle et infantile) nearby, they would be the people to go and see. They can follow you through pregnancy and postnatally (both you and your baby)

My elder kids' school sometimes publishes the menu for the month on the outside noticeboard, but not always. There wasn't one for September, I hane't looked for October yet. We certainly don't get a menu sheet suggesting what we could give them in the evening to complement it. Although I recently read a magazine article giving evening suggestions to go with the perrenial favourites. My collège sticks the week's menu over the swipe card machine for the cantine. My husband's has the same menu as the primaries in the town (it's a bit complicated, although it's a collège, the buildings, cantine and cleaning staff are run by the mairie not the conseil général) In my last collège, the pupils always had a "milk product" not necessarily cheese and then a dessert. The teachers had a cheese board as well. I've never seen pupils offered alcohol of any sort but it is normal for teachers to have wine with their meal. When I worked in Normandy, there was a choice between wine and cider and in Belfort (near Alsace) there was a choice between red and white wine and beer. I'm just wondering. Does everybody realise that teachers do not sit with the children. Sometimes they have a separate table, but in every school I have worked in, they have a separate room. TU, about knowing the sex. I've got used to that but I do find it a bit odd to refer to the baby by name before it's born. We had a choice of 2 names per sex (which we never knew) so we could choose once we had seen him/her. Each time, the hospital staff would try and fill in as much of the forms as possible before the birth so you would get them asking "so what sex is it?" we would say we didn't know so they would go on to the next question "so what name have you chosen?" yeah, right.

I've just finished reading it. I didn't learn anything new but I thought it explained France very well and the angles they took on the pourquoi du comment explaining how France and the French just start from a different standpoint were very interestingly put. Their chapter about "the State" was very interesting and I found myself nodding in agreement with a lot of their comments on the vision the french have of  La République and L'Etat. (you should hear my husband on l'état unie et indivisible) I would suggest it to anybody wanting to understand how France functions (yes, with a small warning that it is aimed at north Americans) Interestingly, I'm reading "les français aussi ont un accent" now which is a book by the same author but in French. While 60 millions.... was very neutral and spent most its time trying to explain without criticising, les français... is much more critical as a whole. It is written more as a humerous travelogue but the author lets out a lot more of his frustrations with the French.

Does France have a similar system to the UK's 'List 99' - whereby all persons working with children are (supposedly) checked for any previous convictions in a range of offences before being employed? I'm not sure. When I started teaching as a non-fonctionnaire, they checked my qualifications, lungs and ability to speak English, but I don't remember them checking my previous convictions. That was to teach in a collège. Our childminder is a nourrice agrée with the creche familiale run by the mairie and she has never been asked about a casier either. I have a nasty feeling that unless you are a fonctionnaire then they don't bother because you may only be working a short amount of time. When you take a concours, then you have to show your casier judiciaire

This has been on the news in france both before and after the summer holidays. I'm not sure that we can complain about it being "snuck in" The reforme de la sécu was one of the things the government promised to do at the last general election and Chrirac did mention it in his new year's speech so we've been waiting for it happen. As far as I've understood it, you need to be sent on to a specialist by your GP. I think you can still go and see one without referral but you are reimbursed differently. I haven't really been listening too much because I only ever go and see the same GP. This might help http://www.assurancemaladie.sante.gouv.fr/  

My children went to the school cantine from the age of 6. There aren't a lot of places and you have to apply to the mairie with your reasons (both parents working, single working parent, looking after an elderly relative....) Most of their classmates don't eat at the cantine. A lot of the parents around here don't work or work part time. Since the lunch break is 11.30-1.30, there's time to pick them up and feed them. Some of the children eat at school once a twice a week only. From talking to friends, I've never heard of a school allowing packed lunches. Although talking about "allowing" probably isn't right. Most French people wouldn't consider a packed lunch sufficient during a school day. In all the years I've been teaching in a collège, the question has never been asked. As for non-meat versions; I've never heard of them being offered. My school offers non-pork without any trouble, it's a case of it having been asked for. As SB says, if you ask they will probably try their best. It's just that vegetarianism isn't very well understood in France and you might come up against people worrying about lack of protein (this is a country where babycare books still have to remind parents that red meat isn't the only source of protein, that chicken contains it too- try telling them about lentils and see what happens )  

I had a look at this site the other day. We all have our specialities I suppose, so I looked straight at the education section. The discussion about the Ferry reforms could fill this forum, but I would think that people should  be warned more about the present "marche ou creve" attitude than any worries (imagined or not) from the SNES about decentralisation of the cleaning staff One interesting point was made about people going to university to avoid national service. I repeated it to my husband, who looked surprised and said "I wish it were true". Going to uni just delayed the terrible moment. And anyway, as was dicussed here recently, national service is now a "journée du citoyen" not really something that is going to have an effect on university access.

As lavenderlady says I would think they are looking for the noun that has the same root as the ajdective. I would have given the same answers as her. As for whether it looks like a sensible question; well the reason I could answer so quickly is that my son has already had questions like this in primary and even in the brevet des collège at the end of troisieme you get questions about find the  noun that corresponds with the adjective or sometimes even whole families of words. I wasn't sure about baston (it's probably slang) so I checked in the dictionary. it wasn't there but bastonnade was. It means  hitting someone repeatedly with a stick (there's some useful vocab for us all)

Wow, you're lucky. Ours only get given goûters in maternelle. In primary we have to provide any snacks. So numbers one and two go off with a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack in their bag. Child number one had a dentist visit the school and insisted on nothing but fruit for his gouters from then on. Then spoilt it by eating choclate when he got home. Child number two always manages to find friends who don't have a goûter so she shares with them and hardly ever eats anything herself. (one day she'll get to 20 kg, but not yet   I'd like to say that they keep an eye on them in the cantine (this is certainly true in our primary school, we get told that #2 hasn't eaten yet again) but to be honest, there are just not enough staff in a collège cantine to check on what they are eating. In my school, the cantine staff will discreetly point out any child who isn't taking enough food to the school nurse. But it's mainly for teenage girls who are trying to get past with an empty tray

You could try festive (adj) festin (n) arrestation (n) bestial (adj) vestimentaire (adj) Can't think of any bâton ones off the top of my head (all that's coming into my mind is baston)  

I didn't bother with a paediatrician, I just went and saw my GP. I would probably have gone to the PMI if I had been able to drive at the time, but it was too far to walk.

Just to add that last school year all my pupils who were 17 were told to register with the mairie for the "journée du citoyen" (I think that's it) and bring back proof or we wouldn't be able to register them for the brevet. None of them were non-French so the question didn't come up. But as far as I know, it's only French nationals (the old service nationale certainly was) It's just a one day thing now but they are trying to fit in everything they used to put into the old three days.

Here's a link to the page on the ministery's website. It explains answers most the questions about registering children in French schools. http://www.education.gouv.fr/prat/inscrip.htm I've copied here the blurb about the basic steps to register children for elementaire and maternelle Elementaire Adressez-vous à la mairie de votre domicile en présentant : - le livret de famille, une carte d'identité ou une copie d'extrait d'acte de naissance - un justificatif de domicile (texte en cours d'élaboration) - un document attestant que l'enfant a subi les vaccinations obligatoires pour son âge. Faites ensuite enregistrer l'inscription de votre enfant par le directeur ou la directrice de l'école élémentaire en présentant : - le certificat d'inscription délivré par la mairie ; - le livret de famille, une carte d'identité ou une copie d'extrait d'acte de naissance - un certificat médical d'aptitude ; - un document attestant que l'enfant a subi les vaccinations obligatoires pour son âge. Il est souhaitable de se renseigner dès le mois d'avril pour la rentrée suivante afin de connaître les jours et heures de réception des parents pour l'inscription de leur enfant.   Si l'enfant ne change plus d'école, vous n'aurez pas à renouveler son inscription chaque année. Maternelle Allez à la mairie de votre domicile avec les documents suivants :  - le livret de famille, une carte d'identité ou une copie d'extrait d'acte de naissance - un justificatif de domicile (texte en cours d'élaboration) - un document attestant que l'enfant a subi les vaccinations obligatoires pour son âge : - antidiphtérique - antitétanique - antipoliomyélitique - B.C.G. ou d'un document attestant d'une contre-indication. La mairie vous délivre un certificat d'inscription indiquant l'école où est affecté votre enfant. Il faut ensuite vous présenter à l'école. L'inscription de votre enfant sera enregistrée par le directeur ou la directrice de l'école sur présentation : - du livret de famille, d'une carte d'identité ou d'une copie d'extrait d'acte de naissance - du certificat d'inscription délivré par la mairie - d'un certificat délivré par le médecin de famille attestant que l'état de santé de l'enfant est compatible avec la vie en milieu scolaire. - d'un document attestant que l'enfant a subi les vaccinations obligatoires pour son âge. L'inscription doit être faite au plus tard au mois de juin précédant la rentrée scolaire. Mais certaines communes la prennent plus tôt. Renseignez-vous. Si l'enfant ne change pas d'école l'inscription n'a pas à être renouvelée tous les ans. If translations are needed just ask

Has anybody read the Terry Pratchett book interesting times? There's an civil service exam to become a "night soil operative" and the candidates have to compose a poem about a white pony trotting through the mist (or something like) It's always reminded me of the French system. All the concours are niveau something. Meaning you must have at least that qualification to sit them. Teaching exams are a bit different but what friends have told me about the other concours (and a large part of the family seems to be fonctionnaires), there is always a culture générale part. My husband's cousin borrowed all our hist-géo books to prepare her last next-stage-up concours. She works in human ressources at the Poste.   When I first came to France, I applied for a job in a supermarket. The anpe wouldn't let me even  interview because I didn't have to bac G (that would be ES now) asked for in the ad. "I've got a degree" "Yes, but you haven't got bac G"

Yes, it was me. I'll send it again. If you like it, I'll send you you ISBN for the book (I'm assuming  it's still in print) My first lessons are tomorrow. 6eme, 3eme LV1, 3eme LV2 and 3eme Insertion. New books for two of them and no book at all for one. What levels will you be having? Is your school following the system (from dear old Jack) of teaching a younger class each year? Should be on CP by now

I think this must be the same as what my in-laws call "rôti pompé". I prefer it to ordinary roast pork. it doesn't taste salty but it stays moist better.

Oh yes, I try to ban tip-ex. They spend more time blanking out and then waiting for it to dry than working. I quite like the mice though. I use a lot of ruber stamps too. I had a set of winnie the pooh stamps and I would get the 3emes begging for the stamps with the "nounours" instead of the "boring" ones. I don't use fountain pens. They're not easy to buy in France (unless you go to a specialised shop) and anyway, my fingers get covered with ink using a ballpoint. I'm a bit like kids in nursery school, you can see from my clothes and hands what I've been doing. (last year I managed to draw all over my T-shirt  white board marker- much to 6eme E's amusement) I still correct in red. I tried orange one year but it wasn't visible enough and I use green for pronounciation so if I start underlining in green, they'll think it was stress accent.

I've got three children in primary at the moment (1, 7, 3) We registered the youngest for maternelle in June. What happened is that we had to go to the mairie to do a sort of pre-registration and once they had OK'ed it, we could then go on to the school and do the real registration. I think for the mairie, they only wanted proof of residence. For the school, I think we needed proof of residence plus the paper the mairie had sent us and the "carnet de santé" The only obligatory jabs in france are BCG and DTP. they may fuss about the others but they can't refuse to take a child. The days they go to school varies from commune to commune. In primary, the "normal" is Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri and Saturday morning. Some places do the "semaine de 4 jours" which means they don't have school on Saturdays. But the holidays are shorter to make up for the lost half days. This was very popular a few years back but is getting less and less so. My town is a bit odd, we have no school on Saturdays and have it on Wednesday mornings instead. It's been going for 2 years and seems to be working well. Any changes have to be agreed by the rectorat.

We ask for 150 pages. We tried 100 pages one year and most of our pupils had to buy a new cahier in about March and then we had to work out which lessons needed transfering and then check that they did it. We tried 200 the year after but that was too much and too heavy. 150 seems about right. All collèges in the bouches du Rhone (and I mean all) were given the money by the conseil général to buy double sets of books for LV1, French, maths and Hist-géo about 6 years ago for 6eme and then 5eme the next year. Obviously when we want to change the book, we have to think about that. As I said, collèges just don't have the budget for it. Last year we got the money for 4eme and we're hoping for 3eme this year. This was because they lent a laptop to every 4eme and so they had to provide spare books and lockers as well. Our cantine has the switchcard system too. With the top up version for teachers and the set amount of meals a term/pay in advance for the pupils.

What other colours are there? Or do you mean those horrible pink and silver things? Ever tried reading work done with those - it's a nightmare. Or when you're correcting and you have to change from red pen (sorry is that still allowed in the UK ?) to another colour so the pupils can see what you've written against pink or orange. A lot of my older pupils (especially the girls) like to use various shades of turquoise if they can't use pink or orange. Child #2's list asks for blue, red and green pens without specifying if they should be ballpoint or ink but at the bottom reminds you to check that their stylo effacable works. (not that they asked for one anywhere in the list) does this mean that they should have ink pens? Most teachers don't seem to like black pens. I don't know why. Our three are rarely asked to buy one and my 6emes always ask if they can use one.

When I compared my niece's year 7 timetable with my pupils' 6eme one, the amount of lessons was about the same. The big difference is in the length of those lessons. French pupils are supposed to cope with hour long (OK 55 minute) lessons. And of course, my niece had no perm. The other differences are that most French schools seem to allow an enormous amount of time for lunch (sometimes 2 hours) My school has 400 pupils going through the cantine and they complain that 1h30 isn't enough. My niece's school puts 600 through in about an hour.  And French schools always have an afternoon break (my UK school had removed it after discussion with the families) Then there is always the fact that there is no school on Wednesday afternoon (or Saturday depending on you region) All this adds up to long days. A pupil in 6eme should have 4 hours of perm. There is a maximum number of hours of lessons they are supposed to have a week. I think it's 23, but I can check. I worked in one school which decided to give all the 6emes Wednesday morning off, It meant they had a break in the middle of the week, but it also meant that all the other days were blocked solid. Re heavy bags: Check and recheck with him that he hasn't got books he doesn't need (this happens, I've known 6emes so traumatised by the terrible warnings of what will happen if they forget things that they don't dare take anything out) you should have a meeting in the next few weeks,  this is the time to check with each teacher whether or not they allow pupils to share books (the externes bring them and not the demi-pensionnaires) and if thay have got spares in the classroom. I have 15 of each book in my cupboard. So the pupils leave their books at home and use the ones in class. (don't bother asking the school to provide this- they have barely got enough money to buy books for every pupil, ours came from the conseil general) But they won't want to buy new ones for 6emes this year-the programme is going to change soon. Professional interest: what English book has he got?

Ask at the pharmacie and explain it's for making a drink (so it won't have camphour in it) that's what my friend does. Any chance of having the recipe I love limoncello  

"And teachers often ask for things that don't exist, like cahiers of odd sizes and numbers of pages, so parents and children all get stressed and worried because they can't find them"   I heard something about that on C+ today, but the man was complaining that teachers ask for a 200 page cahier when they come as 196 pages. Having been at too many discussions on "what are we going to ask for?" I know that most teachers assume that parents will understand that 196 is perfectly acceptable. The thing is, they don't, they are worried about getting it wrong, maybe there is a miracle 200 page cahier somewhere. The other thing he was complaining about was that 24x32 maxi format cahiers don't exist. Well, I'm sorry they certainly exist here. Our pupils have been using them for years. The reason is quite simple, A4 photocopies fit in much better that in a normal grand format. You don't get bits of paper sticking out and getting ripped of in the bag. The problem is that each subject teacher produces a separate list, and the secretary just types the whole thing out, so there's a lot of redundancy.  My school, has decided to write common list for the bits and bobs and each subject then adds on the specific equipment needed for that subject. In my case; cahier, workbook and green protege cahier in 6eme (hist-geo ask for blue, French for red- so the 6emes don't get the books mixed up) It is odd that there isn't a standard set of stuff to buy And upset our liberté professionelle!!!!! There are 6 English teachers in my school and the whole meeting on what to ask for takes at least an hour with a lot of shouting and sulking and sometimes people walking out. Just think of the hassles it would be if we had to ask every English teacher in France.

Hi I've got the CAPES, I took it 11 years ago when it was first open to EU citizens. You need to register to take it (in November I think but you'll find the info on the minister's website under concours) There is a CAPES externe and interne. The interne is for people who have been teaching in the state system for at least 5 years. You can take the CAPES as a candidat libre which means you are not registered with any IUFM to prepare it and you can prepare it at home. It is possible to have lessons through the CNED. The exam itself is in March. there is an essay, translation and commentaire de texte. You have three or four set books and a civilisation theme. The civilisation theme changes every year and will turn up either in the essay or the commentaire de texte. When I took it, it was the industrial revolution. The exams last 4 hours and are "university level". If you get a sufficiant grade in the written exams, then you will be called up for the oral. This keeps changing. Again it is a university level exam and not too much interested in your ability to teach. The CAPES is a competitive civil service exam. This means that they will decide the number of posts theywant to fill and then take the top so many. If you get in, you have a year as a stagiaire where you teach 4-6 hours and go to the IUFM twice a week. You have a tutor who comes and inspects a few times and a memoie professionel to write. Most people manage their stagiaire year. At the end of the stagiaire year, you become a titulaire and you go into mouvement nationale. This means that you can be posted anywhere in France on a points system. I'm sorry to have written such a long reply. Send me a pm or e-mail if you want more details

You're lucky, we don't usually get the equipment list until there's nothing left in the hypermarkets and we have to stock up in the maison de la presse. At least the primary selection isn't too bad, it's mostly pens and book covers (we never did find the small orange one they wanted last year) But I'm not looking foreward to next year when the eldest starts college, then all hell lets loose. Between grand format and maxi format, petits carreaux and grands carreaux, with or without spirals .....   Don't worry about the flûte. They generally don't start that until 6eme (they they play them in the classroom next to mine with the windows open...  )