Jump to content

Best schools for enlish speaking children???


milims
 Share

Recommended Posts

We have 2 children, 11 and 12 who have a very basic understanding of french. Which areas have the best schools for non french speaking pupils? Heard that the Dordogne and generally the Aquitaine region is good. Need to identify catchment areas too before we make a decision about moving over as the kids education is important to us.

Any comments, web links etc would be more than welcome!

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Chris,

We moved when our daughter was 11 & live in the Aquitaine.  I would advise trying to find a school with no English pupils!  Your children are quite old to make the move easily & could find talking in English easier than learning the language. Most schools, in my experience, will offer extra French lessons for your children for at least a year. We visited the area we live in for 12 years before moving.  There is more to consider about your location than the amount of English there.  Work being the major one!  Sorry if this is a bit blunt 

Having said all the above our daughter is fluent & doing very well at school.  She is very happy & would not go back to the UK. 

Good luck for the future.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree. How the hell are the children going to cope further on in France when they come to more education,work etc without being fluent speaking and learning the language and curriculum from an early age. Sorry but I have never heard anything so stupid as to come to a foreign country and not let the children go to a local school to get the best education they can, why not just stay in the UK if you don't want them learning french basics?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe but it came across in the posting to me that the parents are not bothered about learning french from a basic source but to continue an english education, perhaps the wording should have been clearer. I make no appologies though for telling anyone how it is here and seeing how selfish some parents have been in the past with older children speaking no french and throwing them into a french school,words beggar belief. The poster must realise that unless their children speak and write good french they have no hope for a future working in France if they wish to stay here,ask any employer.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry Val, but it was clear to me.  I agree with your sentiment about English kids learning French, but do you really have to be so abrupt in your post, after all the OP is a new member and just looking for some help, not an unhelpful comment like yours.

Dotty

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry everyone, didn't mean to upset or offend. Suppose its just visiting another forum where some of the posters really get under your skin. To OP, all I can say is, please get your kids to learn french and if possible go to the local french school they really will blossom believe you me,my kids were the first ever here over 12 years ago and the press came to interview them, they have both never looked back and have the dipolomas to proove it.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't wory about the postings, maybe  was a bit vague in the initial one!

We expect to integrate into french society and an important part of that is for the children to be educated to the best of their ability. As such i am looking for schools that have had experience of teaching non french children and promoting high standards of written and oral french. I can't see the point of moving to france unless we are willing to embrace french culture and the french language.

As far as working and supporting the family, I'm a joiner by trade and my partner is an electrician, so we would be looking at applying for a Siret no. and setting up in business in france (After consulting with a good english speaking accountant so that I know EXACTLY what my responsibilities are, that side of france is a little daunting in comparrison to the uk!!!)  From what I've seen and heard I shouldn't have too much trouble finding work, but Helen is another matter, as the french specs for electrical works are different and  would necesitate some re training.

Hope that clears the air a bit.

So, any Schools you can suggest?

Chris and Helen ( and the kids) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I can't recommend going to your local schools enough. Mainly this will help the kids no end, they will make lots of local friends who will stay friends usually right through their lives and for you, as parents there is a very active social side too. One thing is that in France your children must attend the local school in your commune unless there is another in a nearby commune that you would prefer to go to and are willing to take you and then you must get it authorised by your mairie and also for which you will get no help with transport costs. Most larger villages and towns have private catholic schools which you pay for,but very cheap I think compared to private schools generally but again you get no help towards transport costs from your mairie.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could I also suggest that YOU don't try to speak to your kids in French!  I've learnt the hard way, and though I speak French fluently, everyone I teach knows I am English.  I picked up the accents from my parents (and I suppose my French teachers at school).  Now the young people who I have taught speak with a lovely English accent, as they have leant it from me... 

I am convinced they will be OK, they may end up repeating a year, but very soon will be probably also better at the English language as well.

M

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems everybody concurrs. Local schools and sounding out the local Marie as to additional tutoring etc are the way to go.

Thanks everybody for your input, you have set a couple of my worries to rest. Now i can start looking in earnest!

Soooo.....

Anybody know of a 3 bed house with an acre of land and outbuildings suitable for a workshop for a tenner? lol

Only kidding, gonna trawl the net again and see about registerting wit the local estate agents to see what they can bring up.

Thanks

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Milims.

I agree with all the previous posts about getting your kids into the local school.

Does one of you already speak French? the reason I ask is that kids get a lot of homework and it does help a lot if one of the parents has a good understanding of the language.

Going off the tangent, you say you have not bought a house in France yet, may I suggest that you try and find a long term let first, we did, and it does make it a lot easier to find the right house, area and schools.

Looking on the internet is one thing, but you really need to spend some time looking,

Anyway, Good Luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...