Mackyfrance

Tegwini, I've said it before and I'll say it again the French Bac is nothing like the IB. The French Bac is virtually unknown in the UK and certainly doesn't have the 'kudos' of the IB. Personally I can see little to recommend the Bac or French education in general and I speak as a parent who has had considerable experience of both UK and French education. Like Panda we are returning to the UK. Coincidentally to rural Wiltshire where our children have places in a school with an Outstanding OFSTED report and where all the parents I have spoken to have nothing but good things to say about it. As for discipline in French schools, what a myth that is, in my experience anyway. If discipline includes abusing the teachers, wandering around the class during lessons, refusing to work, daily punch ups during the lunch hour, throwing spitballs at the teachers, vandalising the toilets so often that they are now closed except for one hour a day, then yes, it's great here. If not.... Stabbing of teachers is becoming almost commonplace in France now. My children's school is, like the one in Wiltshire, in a semi-rural market town. French education, which is limited and limiting, has sucked the life out of my children. I fear that on their return to the UK they will be so far behind their counterparts, having never written an essay, never having been expected to have an independent thought in their heads, never having had to critique a poem or piece of work, etc. The Bac is incredibly limiting as others have said. It can also be very exclusive - as in excluding people who struggle with one subject. An example. My French neighbour's daughter wants to be a vet. There is a huge shortage of rural vets, especially large animals specialists which she wants to be. In order to get on the concours for Vet School, you need a Bac S. After a year in Lycee, she has been told that her maths moyen isn't high enough and she is being thrown off the course. The vet with whom she did her stage is horrified. He believes that she will make an excellent vet and also says that very little maths is actually required. She now has to change to a different Bac at a different Lycee 100kms from home. On a more general note, I have lots of dealings with bilingual departments of French organisations. I have never come across a single one that employs a bilingual British person rather than a bilingual French one, even if the level of English is dubious to say the least. I honestly believe that a British person will never get a job if they can find a French person to do it. I can't see any benefit for my children staying here and, like Panda, I'm happy to take my chances in a system I know and understand and in a country where there stand a better chance of getting a job.

It wasn't just the UK press. The Canadian press picked up on the story and took it as a personal insult that they were not being represented. While a lot of it was media-inspired frenzy, I think it also shows that the underlying suspicion between the UK and France that France could and should have done more to protect it's own people still exists and that sitting in Paris having a cafe with the Germans while thousands of allied troops died trying to liberate them still sticks in the craw of many British people, rightly or wrongly

My neighbour, who is French, gave up running our village shop after three years of struggling with it. The problem, she's not from 'le coin' so the villagers would rather go to the supermarket than buy from her. She took it over from another lady who was, likewise, an incomer who had the same problems. It was then bought by the son of our Maire who was born and bred in the vilalge and it is thriving. Make of that what you will.

We've just been let down by the third prospective tenants in 3 months and I'm starting to get really fed up as each of them has waited weeks before deciding they didn't want to go ahead. Agents don't seem that interested in our property as it is a house and gite so a bit out of the ordinary so where do you advertise to find quality tenants? If anyone can suggest websites to use I'd be grateful.

Yes, just goes to show that I'm a lousy judge of character, having said I thought the previous shower had nothing to hide!

That's what I was wondering but everyone I speak to says 'You must go through a Notaire to be safe'.

Can anyone who knows more than me (which is just about everyone!) tell me the benefits of doing a bail d'habitation through a notaire rather than buying one off the internet. We are getting a little fed up with our notaire who is very slow, doesn't answer e-mails etc. Our prospective tenants need the bail in order to arrange shipping of their furniture so we are all stuck in limbo. I'm wondering whether we'd be better off doing our own. Thanks for any replies

Well, thought I'd just update you. The prospective tenants refused to provide financial information, we refused the let then, thanks to the joys of Google found a post on another forum that seemed to suggest they were penniless. A cautionary tale! Now found lovely prospective tenants who are only too happy to provide everything we ask for.

Lollie, it may not have less status in France, which doesn't recognise the IB anyway, but it certainly has less status in UK and US universities and among global employers.

Having been to University in France and the UK, the only comment I would make is that you get what you pay for. You could opt for French Uni, get all the benefits and pay next to nothing but what you get at the end is pretty much the same - next to nothing whereas a UK or US Uni education will provide a more internationally accepted and respected qualification. All depends what you want to do afterwards. Also, can I point out that the IB and the French Bac are not the same thing at all. Even the French Bac with Option Internationale is not considered the same as the IB and has much less status. I believe that you need a note of 14 in the French Bac for most university entrance in the UK but others may know better.

Yes, private schools are generally not allowed to go on strike. However, that doesn't unfortunately alter the inherent problems with the French education system as mentioned by several of these posters. I don't know what ages yours are but I had no problems with primary school at all and, it being a single teacher school, if she was sick, a replacement was provided. College, however, is a different matter altogether. It is also worth noting that private schools exist to take those pupils that cannot fit into mainstream school therefore many pupils, and I'm not suggesting this is the case with your school, have serious social problems. I wouldn't send a dog to our local private school, never mind a child. It's definitely a last resort rather than a first choice and 'caring ethos' is not a description I would use about them. This is a school, after all, that went on a school trip (the entire school) and left one child behind unsupervised as he hadn't finished his work. France, is, unfortunately, just as much a postcode lottery as the UK and probably anywhere else but I'm glad to hear that you are happy with your school. IMHO one of the best summations of the French education system can be found on this thread. www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/5/1210280/ShowPost.aspx#1210280 Scroll down to the post from Richardbk

I could have written all these posts myself about the college my children attend (one in 4eme, one in 6eme). I can't honestly remember the last time my children had a full week at school. It was months ago. While the number of etudes does get less as they get further up, the number of staff absences, strikes, etc doesn't. Homework has become non-existent too. And all this in the one of the best colleges around. My son (4eme) has gone from being a bright, motivated and eager to learn child to one who can barely raise the energy to do what homework he gets. He finds it boring, unmotivating and it has completely crushed his spirit. French school has been a disaster as, as far as I can see, it is only suitable for those who enjoy rote learning and regurgitating what the teachers tell them without ever having to understand what they are learning. My children aren't like that. Perhaps that could be seen as their fault rather than the system but, I mean, it's the 21st Century and they don't even learn IT! Like some of the other posters, we've decided to return to the UK. We've managed to get our children into a school with an Outstanding OFSTED report, 90 different after school clubs and societies, fantastic sports facilities, no 3 hour lunch breaks and they finish at a reasonable hour. I honestly feel that if we stay here they will never reach their full potential. Even being bilingual doesn't really seem to be any benefit here as I have dealings with loads of bilingual departments of French organisations and I've yet to come across a single one that employs a native English speaker. They all employ French people who speak English. We are also renting our house out, which isn't ideal but I simply can't muck up the children's education any longer. We're moving to the Wiltshire/Somerset border. Good luck Mitsi, I wish I could offer something more positive.

Credit Agricole also sent us a letter recently asking for loads of financial information and proof of who we are. It's all to do with new money laundering regulations.

Thanks everyone. We have put the ball back into their court on this as there is absolutely no way we will go ahead with the rental unless they can provide proof of sufficient income or assets. I've tried to explain to them why we need it but it seems in their home country this sort of info is not required. It seems that there are some people happy to rent out their houses on a handshake but we're are not prepared to. Fortunately we have a small queue of people interested in renting so if this doesn't work out, then I'm sure one of the others will.

We have people interested in renting out our house for 3 years. However, they won't provide proof of income saying that they feel that information is confidential and that they wouldn't enter into the agreement if they weren't sure they could afford it. Personally we don't want to know the details of their finances however we do need to know they can pay the rent. Is there a third party company who could check this information for us or does anyone know what else we could request eg. bank reference, accountant's letter. I don't believe they have anything to hide just that old anglo-saxon dislike of revealing financial information.