New to French Education - whats CP / differnce between ecoles publique and privee etc? (Apologies for my ignorance!)

[Rosie]

Hello

We shall be moving to the Mayenne region  in a few months (unfortunatley not before La Rentree) and after having read all your very informative posts on the forum, I'm still a little in the dark regarding the abbreviations. My son is 4 and a half and my daughter 2 and a half - what is the process regarding which bit of the school they go in first.... what is CP and what age does that begin and end. Is that different to Ecole Maternelle?

The local school they will be attending in the village of Chailland is small and Ive been told they can both start the school, and will be in the same class (for 2-6 year olds!)  Unfortunaely I can't get hold of anyone to ask as the entire village is on holiday but would really like to better understand! Is there any info available on the French early years curriculum and does it differ between ecole publique and ecole privee.. does anyone have any thoughts on whether theres a real difference at that age?

 

Thanks

Rosie

[Charlotte3]

Hello Rosie,

Luck you, Chailland is and exceptionally pretty village, we often go for hikes up the little mountain there.

Ecole maternale is for the very "wee" ones, after that comes primaire and the college at 11 or so and lycee after the Breve. but that's a long way off for you yet!

From my expereince ther is little difference between state and private education here except that there is no religious education in state education. Things may be different in the big towns or cities but here in rural Mayenne you get the same mix of sh--heads in both types of schools!  There could be a difference in class sizes in college but this would depend on your choice of towns. I kept my two in the same year right through college until my oldest left college for lycee in Fougeres and they both did OK. They do seem to have classmates of various different ages though, not like the UK. Ann is coming 17 but some of her classmates are 15!

Personally, I would put them into the state system and watch them flourish!!!! Mine did.

Aly

[Missy]

If you consider that each of these stages takes a year, all being well with the child's progress, it starts at about 6 years old. Anything before CP is Ecole Maternelle where the child can attend as long as he/she is clean (i.e. well potty trained). If the child is obviously struggling, it is not uncommon for him/her to have to resit the year. I did my CM2 twice and perversely loved it!

CP = Cours Préparatoire, CE1 = Cours Elémentaire 1ère année, CE2 = Cours Elémentaire 2ème année, CM1 = Cours Moyen 1ère année, CM2 = Cours Moyen 2ème année. It is more or less equivalent to Key Stage 1 and 2 in UK from 6 to 11 in primary school.

By this stage the child is ready for Ecole Secondaire  : 6ème, 5ème etc....

Ecoles publiques are the national schools funded by the government, écoles privées are run and funded by private concerns usually the catholic church in France.

 

[nimportequoi]

Due to financial cutbacks, some écoles maternelles are not accepting children before the age of 3 now in this area. Another thing to be aware of  is that the 'age' in a scool year runs January to December, not September to August as in the UK. In Brittany we have private and public schools - some say the discipline is a little stricter in the private system, but the same educational syllabus is studied, and you can opt in or out for the religious studies in private schools, it is not compulsory. Private school teachers tend not to strike, so that is why a lot of people switched to them in the last few years, it is less disruptive for the children and parents, but in the last couple of years, there haven't been too many strikes. You also pay for private schools, but not a lot, I think about 20€ a month here, although the cantine fees are payable on top of this and are more expensive than the public schools. There is a lot of politics attached to the public/private system - one of my friends used to teach in the public primaire system, but when she took her son out of the public and put him in the private school her teaching contract was not renewed.

 

[godwinsj]

You may find that the Catholic schools in the Mayenne are more receptive to and more willing to help English children. I also think that there is a big problem with small village schools (particularly state ones) in that they have neither the skills or the inclination to teach foreign child ren or those belonging to the gens du voyage. In the Mayenne we are lumped together with the gypsy kids as a big problem!

The other worry is that the village schools are not big enough to have separate classes so the children are all put together which is not a good learning situation. Ecole Maternelle should have 3 classes and it is an ideal opportunity for children to acquire the basics. Although children are not legally required to go to school before their 6th. birthday, they cannot leave CP until they can read & write so it is best that they start much earlier. 

 

[Harley]

We are not Catholic but we enroled our children in the local Catholic Primaire (private).  The school is fantastic.  They have gone out of their way to help the children settle in.  The teacher went out and bought work books (the ones you find in the supermarkets) for the children to work through in class and they allowed them a certain amount of time (2months) during which time they would speak to them in English.  After that they had to use the French they had learnt.  I can't praise them or thank them enough.  My eldest was allocated a "friend" to help her out and they continue to be best friends three years on.[:D]