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School lunches in France


Mountain dreams
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Hi we are currently looking at moving to quite a rural area of SW France. Looking at the government's education site www.education.gouv.fr, it appears that only a few of the ecole elemaintaires in the area have school lunches - I'm going by those with a knife and fork logo, labelled restauration scolaire. Is this the case that not all schools provide school lunches? If that is so, what do the children do? Do they all go home for lunch?
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The school cantine depends on the willingness of the commune concerned to pay towards it and they usually have rules associated with it too*. They do not have to run one.

Prices can be expensive too, as I have recently seen on french news that some communes have put the prices up quite a lot.

*Also, not everyone is eligible to use this service. In my old commune, only working parents can use the service.......... ie no one available at lunch time to collect and feed the child concerned. For anyone else, this service can only be used under exceptional circumstances and agreed by the Mairie.

Never heard of packed lunches in France.

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Thanks. So does that mean that the presence or absence of school lunches should be a consideration in choosing a school? I am at the beck and call of the primary school here in the UK because I am not working at the moment and hadn't envisaged having to bring the children home for 2 hours every lunchtime in France. In France my partner will be working - although sometimes from home - and I will be setting up in business as soon as I can - which is unlikely to be based at home.

Also, do you know whether you have to send your children to the nearest school or can you choose one further away? Some of the French village schools are tiny and, as well as no school lunches, it would not be a good idea for my children to be taught in the same class as the younger one really needs his own space, otherwise he is dominated by the older.
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Have a really hard think about moving to rural France with children. Have a really hard think about moving to rural France full stop as a family. Personally I don't recommend it. Certainly not for expats. If you do, you will spend your days driving kids around everywhere. Especially when they go to college. Also, kids are at home Wednesday afternoon.

Before anyone asks, I used to live rural with our kids. Never again. Remember, rural schools are rural and when kids grow up there is not an awful lot for them to do.

Idun, my kids have packed lunches but only on medical grounds. Otherwise I don't think it is allowed. God job because as stated earlier, canteen meals are very expensive.
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The rural schools in the SW really have to provide a lunch, because it's too far to go home. Don't know the standard, or the cost. They have a lot of bread! I know that because one of my neighbours used to work in the canteen and brought me the leftovers for our hens.

There's transport from the out of the way places, that's from very early morning to late afternoon. Maybe you have to pay for that too?

I know a few families wih teenagers, in our very rural dept., and they board weekly. That's much cheaper here than in the UK.

Many of the tiny village schools have closed recently, for economic reasons, including the maternelle and primary in our village. [:(] Which had its own kitchen and dining hall .

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ps Mountaindreams - re alternatives.

There are many "private" schools in rural areas, even maternelle and Primary, mostly church-run.

Neighbours sent their little ones there and had no complaints, though they had to provide their own transport. Meals provided.

The cost is minimal compared to similar in UK.

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Thanks - all helfpul info. I live in a little village in the UK and have chosen to send my young kids to a larger school in another village, so I drive them around anyway, as well as being a taxi driver to my older son when he lived at home, so I am used to all that.

I will also look into private schools as I haven't done any research on that yet.
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If you want your children to go to a state school then you are supposed to use the closest one, or get a derogation, there has to be good reasons.

The private schools where I used to live one had to pay fees based on income. Although this is not the case everywhere from what I can gather.

My BIGGEST regret my kids being 'educated' in France. It isn't that it never works, because some kids conform and are fine and some can and do thrive, you get any deviation, and deviants suffer! a lot!!!!!

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Just to confirm:

1) You have to get a dérogation from the local Inspector to send your child to a more distant school

http://www.education.gouv.fr/cid5509/la-carte-scolaire.html

here is a model letter

http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/maman/pratique/scolarite/31/carte-scolaire-demande-de-derogation.html

2) Some schools make difficulties over packed lunches.

3) Small schools often have one single class for all the children

4) The idea of giving individual attention to specific problems is not widespread, and some would see it as opposed to the 'same for all' principle of the Républic.

Never forget that France is a foreign country and British preconceptions aren't necessarily shared.

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Also, if you intend to spend many years in France and your children follow the school system up to Lycée, there is the question of school transport. Our two sons have gone through the system to Uni. We live in a village and the school bus stopped in the village and took them to junior school through to College. Many rural bus stops have been deleted and the service reduced. This means either you have to take them to school or the bus stop each day, or they walk quite a distance to the nearest one. OK in summer perhaps, but no fun in the dark winter days. Both our sons were weekly boarders at Lycée - all of 15 mins away by car but nearly 90 minutes on the school bus as it did the tour of all the communes, morning and night!
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