Barbel Bob Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 Hi we hope to arrive at our new house in France on the 1st of October with a view of the children starting school on the 8th Oct in Excideuil Dept 24.One son will go to the lycee the other to college....we have started the enrolling process from England and as we speak limited French we will not have the chance to sit and ask further questions with the Mairie until we arrive so would like to ask just have a couple of questions if i may... Does anyone know of or have any English children that attend this school? if so do they provide any extra help with the French language?School list - will there be anything left at the shops, from reading previous posts all advice was to get this early, can we obtain any of this in England? Back packs/Stationary?Clothes - No uniform, can the children just wear anything? jeans and t-shirts with trainers? If I have to buy new clothes I would prefer to do this before we leave.My eldest son (13yrs) has to sit an exam in Perigeux before starting school has anyone experienced this and can tell me what to expect? Any help or advice would be appreciated! ThanksJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 [quote user="Barbel Bob"]Hi we hope to arrive at our new house in France on the 1st of October with a view of the children starting school on the 8th Oct in Excideuil Dept 24.One son will go to the lycee the other to college....we have started the enrolling process from England and as we speak limited French we will not have the chance to sit and ask further questions with the Mairie until we arrive so would like to ask just have a couple of questions if i may... School list - will there be anything left at the shops, from reading previous posts all advice was to get this early, can we obtain any of this in England? Back packs/Stationary? The shops always have large stocks of stationery etc but you will find the paper to write on in France is not the same as the UK plain straight lined, here they use squared paper most of the time and you will find it freely available. Back packs too at all prices and in specialist bag shops as well as the supermarkets.Clothes - No uniform, can the children just wear anything? jeans and t-shirts with trainers? If I have to buy new clothes I would prefer to do this before we leave. Anything they want and usually they all want brand names to keep up with their friends. Decathlon is a good source of reasonable priced sports clothing with all the usual names like Reebok etc. Clothes are more expensive in France by the way. You will need to provide sports clothing as well for both primaire and collège.My eldest son (13yrs) has to sit an exam in Perigeux before starting school has anyone experienced this and can tell me what to expect? Sorry no as mine did primaire first and automatically went to collège. Its probably to see how much french he knows or maths but that is done back to front here in the workings out.Any help or advice would be appreciated! ThanksJ[/quote]Sorry cannot help with the location and local details as I live hundreds of miles from that part but the schools are uniform all over France with the curiculum and methods of teaching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tourangelle Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 If your eldest is 13 then he should be in collège, in 3eme, not lycée. I agree with Val, it sounds like a placement test for French, but didn't they tell you? Are you sure you are sending them to the local school? If they are testing him (and why not the other?) then perhaps it is to see if they need to send him somewhere special first.Importantly, the mairie is NOT the place to ask about post primary education, you should enquire in the individual schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbel Bob Posted September 12, 2007 Author Share Posted September 12, 2007 [quote user="Tourangelle"]If your eldest is 13 then he should be in collège, in 3eme, not lycée. I agree with Val, it sounds like a placement test for French, but didn't they tell you? Are you sure you are sending them to the local school? If they are testing him (and why not the other?) then perhaps it is to see if they need to send him somewhere special first.Importantly, the mairie is NOT the place to ask about post primary education, you should enquire in the individual schools.[/quote]We enquired direct at the local school who directed us to the L'Inspection Acadamique, they took our details and asked us to send in our last school reports and an introductory letter with our childrens details....they also advised us to see the Mairie about the youngest, and to contact the CU in Perigueaux to make an appointment for our 13yrs to sit an exam our French is not very good so not 100% sure what this exam is, they said to see how he is getting on?.....Any further info would be apreciated?J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tourangelle Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 I just wondered whether they were thinking of putting him in a special class for a few months to concentrate on his French, but then why wouldn't they do that for his brother too? I suppose if your youngest son is 10-11, they might be unsure about whether he should go to a primary or a secondary school. Was it a catholic school by any chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbel Bob Posted September 12, 2007 Author Share Posted September 12, 2007 Hi again,I am unsure if it's a catholic school, its a pretty big town Excideuil and I just opted for the local school as the lycee and college are next door and the boys can walk together....I have not heard of this test before on the forum so hopefully someone may have an idea as we are booked in on the 4th Oct and will be without internet access from the 28th September until we can sucessfully get it switched on in the new house! (now thats another post).Thanks again!J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchie Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 I am a teacher in a lyçée here in France, so if you need any info, please feel free to PM me ..I ve never heard of such an exam.. Maybe is it specific to the Dordogne ? If your son is 13 , ( I have a 13 year old son myself ) , he should be in 4eme in a " collège" , not a high school, high school starts at 15.Good luck, Im sure everything will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tourangelle Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 This is all very confusing, really, because I really can't see why anybody would have mentioned a lycée to you, as the pp said, he should definitely be collège at thirteen, (you know it is not done by school year but by calendar year). I've heard of people who emigrate's children having to do a test if they are thought to speak some French already, and also to try and find out if they are literate in their language of origin. But as you have had contact with the inspection académique, then it does sound like you have approached a private school (don't worry, it won't be expensive). I only really know about public schools, but I have got a couple of friends who teach in private schools, so if it does turn out to be private and you have some specific questions I could ask them. On the down side, if it does turn out to be private, then there are differences between the ways that schools function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbel Bob Posted September 14, 2007 Author Share Posted September 14, 2007 Hi again,Thanks for your replies and help, I have decided to just wait and see, we are taking a friend along to the exam with us who speaks reasonably good French so she will ask the necessary questions and translate for us, this has eased the worrying a little!I will post in a couple of weeks the details of what the exam was to help others in the future! by then i hope both of my sons will be attending school in France........ fingers crossed xJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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