What are French schools really like?

[Katharine]

We are seriously thinking about moving to France but are concerned about how our three boys (5, 4 and 11 weeks) will cope with the French system. How does it compare to the UK? What qualifications do they get in secondary school? Are the secondary schools really big like in the UK (ie: 1,500 pupils +)?
Do young English children really learn French quickly? Please can anyone reassure us that they'll be okay!

[Douglin]

We too are almost at the point of committing to a new life. We have a girl of three and twin boys of two and a half. So far we have had nothing but encouragement from people in France concerning the move with young children. Where in France are you looking?
Doug.

[Louby]

Hi

We moved to France Sept 01 with our 2 children aged 9 and 7.
They have settled in really well, and have picked up the lingo very quickly, more than I probably realise, for example: just the other day at the vets, my little girl asked if she could wash her hands, she did this all in French and didn't bat an eye lid, the vet understood her first time and even carried on having a conversation with her in FRENCH, I was amazed!
I don't know too much about the schools, but I am very pleased with the one they attend. As long as they are happy, which they seem to be, I am happy.
The younger the better, I'm sure yours will be fine.

Good luck
Louise

[Teamedup]

You will probably get better weather here. You will probably get a better health service............ schools???????Well I do not know how bad your childs dyslexia is........ but I am telling you straight, I would never ever move here with a dyslexic child. We have friends who had their family a couple of years ago, there is dyslexia in the family in the UK, but I have told them that they only thing that I can recommend is that at the first sign of such a thing, they practically flee this country.

The main dyslexia research unit in France is at the IUFM in Grenoble. I actually know one of the research team. A couple of years ago I rang them on a fairly regular basis...... to say I was desparate is an understatement. The secretary used to always say, 'you are not alone'........I was probably crying one day when I asked exactly what they could do to help my son......and she said 'nous sommes impuissant!!!!!!' and for the moment that is what they are.

There are many french families who move to Canada, because there are things for dyslexics in Canada.

A surgeon from the main hospital in Bordeaux had to take his son to Belgium because there was nothing available in France.

I could go on and on and on.........

So personally I believe that it is the worst possible thing you could do to move to France.

[email protected]

If you e-mail me I will send you a copy of a letter I sent to the research people......

[acritch]

Don't know if this will help as our children are all teenagers (13, 15 and 17). We moved to Normandy in June 2001 and the children have now been at school for approx 6 months. Our middle child is dyslexic. We were obviously worried about the move, especially as the children hardly spoke any French. Our experiences though so far have only been positive ones, and in fact, have far exceeded our expectations. Rachel (she is dyslexic) has always hated going to school but the change in her attitude since attending school here is remarkable. She and her younger brother actually go off in the morning laughing and joking. The school have provided extra help for them with French lessons, and they have all said that although it is hard they would not want to change their life at the moment, and certainly don't want to go to school in England. I think the thing to remember that it is your child who needs help and the best person to provide that is you. We still do paired reading, something her primary school introduced us to and which we have found works well. The advantage of doing it here is that we also get to improve our French. We have always been positive (even though there have been really bad days when I have despaired of helping her) and have never let her see her dyslexia as an excuse for not doing things. I can honestly say she has never had as much confidence as she has gained here in the last 6 months. Suddenly she is the centre of attention. The local children love talking to her as they are keen to improve their English. She averaged 19 in English last term, and she deserved the mark, as she did some great projects.
I really think the attitude of the parents rubs off on their children. They are very perseptive (at any age). If you have doubts and are not happy this will rub off on your children and they will react accordingly. We have always talked and made time for ours, and they know they can come to us anytime. They are very precious to us and I believe we owe them the best we can give. I think if you read back through the various threads very few people regret making the move and educating their children in France, even if they do have the disadvantage of having dyslexia. Only you know your child and how they will adapt but if your remain positive and encourage them along the way they will cope okay - so will you!
Val

[Yaska]

If your kids are that young it will be easier for them to learn the language which means that they will settle in easier. My mum, sister (14) and I (12) will be moving to France in september so I am manically learning french so as to be able to converse with classmates. The French schooling system is said to be one of the best in europe so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Keep a positive attitude and I'm sure you'll all be fine.
Bonne Chance
Jess

[SC]

This is a bit long, Ive cut it short.

The OECD says at: http://www.oecd.org/EN/document/0,,EN-document-604-20-no-12-22675-0,00.html

On average, 10% of 15-year-olds in the world's most developed countries have top-level reading literacy skills, being able to understand complex texts, evaluate information and build hypotheses, and draw on specialised knowledge. In Australia, Canada, Finland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the figure is between 15% and 19%.

The French education system produces only average results on the worldwide scale regarding language and sciences in young teenagers according to the OECD. Britain is one of five countries achieving significantly above average results and Jess's posting below makes this obvious. Both the British education system and Jess, should be proud of this.

UK newspapers enjoy kicking education around, and compare British teaching unfavourably because a) that is what their readership expect, or b) their readership is uneducated enough to believe what they read.
The problem for the majority of Brit parents moving to France is that they can't speak the language themselves and they think that everything is OK, which is how their childrens teachers like to present it (tearing pages out of exercise books so that Mum and Dad don't see the mistakes!), until it is too late.


The English assistant at the end of her six months at a nearby lycee told me when I demanded a comparison of the two systems: The teachers here are horrible to the students, none of the staff seems dedicated.

A major problem for foreign (and many French) students is that the language is so complicated that even at lycee they have 4-5 hours per week of French.

Our daughter came with us to France when she was 11. Used to academic and sporting success and worried about not performing well, she became used to having pages torn out of her books, being the butt of English jokes (from the teacher: everyone knows the English cant add up!), and more recently, hassle because of the Iraq invasion. Parents, of course, only ever hear a fraction of the problems.

sc

[debbieo]

I don't know what French schools are like, but based on the poor excuse for education in this country......we are out of here. I have two children 11 and 13 years. The younger is still in Primary and is doing ok this year. Last year she had 6 different teachers because the school didn't have enough staff. This year she has, by far, the best teacher in the school and we consider ourselves very lucky. My son is dyslexic. He gets no help from school at all. They tell him that he is stupid. His English teacher told him he had no chance of climbing to the next English set because he is stupid. It is a big school and they only have time for the better students. Why? So that they can meet the governments targets etc etc. It's a shambles. My fear is that our move is delayed even longer and my daughter ends up being dragged down by this establishment. This is one of the best schools in Surrey! Last term my son's tutor called and told me that it was probably my fault that he is the way he is because I work full time! I know it's not ideal, but you know trainers at GBP60 a pair, mobile phones...all wants but not gots....cost money, along with the 'everyday requirements'. I really hope that we will soon be able to leave this materialistic rat race and start living a life. From this I hope that the children will get a more rounded view of life and not have to rely solely on these Government Robots!

[Richardbk]

I think many people on this forum, with more recent experience of living and educating their children in France have misunderstood the central issue with the French system.

It is not so much as whether it is good or bad as compared to the UK system. The principal issues in France is that the system is very rigid. it doesn't have the same degree of flexibility that is in the UK. the reason for this is clear. In France teachers to a school are appointed by the state. There is no say from 'governors' or even from the head teacher. They are simply placed in the school. Remember it is the staff that make the school what it really is. The head teacher again is placed by the state.

The impact of this is that it is impossible for a school to 'develop' into something better. E.g. the "managers" to select people of a particular way of thinking. The advantage of course is that the schools can not also degenerate into something extremely bad either.

The other problem of this means that teachers report effectively to nobody. We have a teacher in local school that was new last year. For the last 10 months she has verbally bullied every child in the class. It has taken 10 months for the parents to convince the school inspectors to do something. This is not an isolated case in france. In France teachers are a species protected as per other civil servants. You risk a heavy find and/or prison if you are rude to a teacher (if there is a witness).

When we put our first child into the system (never a language problem as she was born here) we had and still have difficulties. With another of our children there is no current problem with the system. The difference is the ability of the French system to adapt even slightly to accept children that are perhaps more artistic than theoretical, ones that are perhaps more individual than others. This is where the French system fails.

When we entered the system, like many here we too believed that everything was going well. This is the job of the teachers and is a reflexion of the French culture. I.e. They will not admit there is a problem, particularly in front of the parents. Of course for the non/poor -speaking ex-pat everything seems fine. Even in maternelle school we had experiences of one teacher completing our daughters work, to try and cover up the fact that she was not doing well.

For those new to France you should understand that the culture of the French system everywhere, not just in teaching is to show that even if the content is poor at least all the t's have been crossed and all the i's dotted.

regs

Richard

[SC]

Its pretty clear from the posts below that education in France is being criticised by French speaking parents whose children have passed through primary into secondary education here, and defended by relative newcomers and occasional visitors who also question the validity of an independent international study, which I should point out, certainly shook French certitudes.

I would be inclined to take heed of what the former have to say; they are not rants, and have based their comments on their experience backed up by examples.
It would be reassuring to see some positive comments from English parents whose children have progressed through higher education or university in France.

I have made my comments with the experience of our son graduating from the UK state system, and our daughter's primary in the UK, and subsequent four years primary and secondary education in France: my comments should not lead to the assumption that she is either failing or unhappy, or that we considered our sons education in the UK to have been without faults.

Katherine: your sons are young enough not to be held back by the language barrier and will get the same education as a French child, but expect everything detailed in the postings by those of us with experience here to happen and to develop your own frustrations with the system and teaching methods. I believe that if you have academic aspirations for your children you will find them harder to achieve here. That is the reality for French parents too.

If you dont believe me/us, read Susan Loomis's book 'On Rue Tatin' for an American parent's experiences in Normandy, tearing pages out of exercise books, teachers shouting at the kids, and all. It is not just a few of us griping here who have noted this.

Imagine not knowing if your child has a strong regional accent or not, if they swear all the time, if their language is lazy...that is the reality for many non French-speaking parents. Ill bet that many of them havent even thought of this. Later you may wonder why your bright child from a bright family can read and understand a French pop magazine, but not a French novel. (Because their vocabulary has come from other children, the family input is missing)

Don't underestimate the difficulty of the French language, written and spoken, even for the French, many of whom feel that further academic education has been denied them because of their inability to master it to the required standard.

Thus the great majority of the (much vaunted in the UK) bacs are bacs pro. (professional=trade); two year courses in such subjects as secretarial, beauty therapy, patisserie, etc. and thus the direction of your childs future can be dictated at age 15; all the bacs pro graduates that we know have not followed their trade for one reason or another, and mostly now work in local factories.

Those parents with children approaching the brevet, who are concerned about their childrens further education may be interested to know that the Lyce Isle de France in Rennes tries to maintain an intake of 50/50 English/French native speakers, and is very keen to hear from more English speaking applicants. Prep courses for entrance qualifications to UK universities are available. If anyones interested Ill post the contact details.

[Jogra]

We moved to the Vendee region of France last year -our 2 daughters, aged 12 and 14 started at the local private school (fees about 500 each per year) in September.
From the start they have been given 1:1 French tuition for 4 hours per week, which has made a huge difference to their progress. However,they find the teaching style rather dull and very didactic. There is very little opportunity for group work or student participation; most lessons are in silence, and they have, on average, 4 tests per week. They will not be taught how to write an essay, certainly not an analytical one, until they go to Lycee, at 15 years old.
Luckily, they are achieving high marks in Art, Music, PE and English which brings the famous 'moyen' or average(which seems to be by far the main means of measuring achievement here) to an acceptable standard. Under 10 is deemed to be 'failing'.
They like the fact that they can work without being distracted by disruptive pupils but say that sometimes they would give anything to have some sort of distraction to break up the tedium of sitting and listening to teachers talk for 8 hours a day.
The hours are 8.30am -5pm with Wednesday pm off, and they have 16 weeks holiday , plus Bank Holidays(which are often extended to 2 days)There are opportunities for extra curricular activitie but on nothing like the same scale as their school in England. Most extra activities such as instrumental lessons, Drama clubs etc are followed out of school.
They stay at school for the 1 and a half hour lunch break, but this is optional. And they are served a 3 course lunch every day. (included in the fees).At first they hated the food, but now enjoy many of the meals. A bus (8 per month each) picks them up from, and drops them off outside our gate.
On the whole, I would say that, for any child under 11 years old, picking up the language is not a problem. But I am very relieved that my daughters are fairly bright as, from what I gather, provision for less able children is not as good as in the UK.
I am concerned about the important decisions my eldest daughter has to make next year regarding her future education. Not speaking French ourselves, it is going to be very difficult to advise her for the best. Luckily, we have made some very good English speaking friends( whose children have been through the system,) to help us, but it is very frustrating not to be able to understand letters, and booklets regarding choices, that the children bring home.
Hope this is of use. It is obviously anecdotal and not a general view of French Education. Good Luck with your decision! Whatever you decide, if your children have your support and encouragement and, very importantly, each other with whom to share experiences, they will be fine! Best Wishes from Jo Osborn

[Musicmonkey<ADDRESS><STRONG>Musicmonkey<STRONG><ADDRESS>]

Saw the film 'Avoir Etre' today (mentioned elsewhere on the forum). Is this what French schools are really like?

[Krista]

Hi Debbio, We live in Manchester and are hoping to move soon to Normandy (Pont d'ouilly). My main concern has been for my daughter and how she will settle into school in France. She is excited about the prospect and I hope this feeling will stand her in good stead.

We too have had terrible problems at school in England. My daughter is 12 years old and in her first year at secondary. She struggles with English, reading and spelling. Though her reading has improved tremendously it has not been through help from school. She had a private tutor for 2 years (and as parents we obviously support her as much as we can.) She was adamant that my daughter was dyslexic. At her primary school they were mot unhelpful in accessing support for her. In fact one teacher said " I hope she meets a rich man when she is older because she will never be academic" She was never chosen for anything and constantly belittled. I'm so sorry for your son as I know how my daughter felt.

If anybody moved to Normandy  with children of a similar age to mine  I would love to hear about your experiences.

Krista

 

[Berlioz]

This is a subject that yet again, is causing me a lot of worry too. 

Only yesterday our 11yo was evaluated as having 'moderate dyslexia', and associated memory problems, sequencing  etc.  Her best skills are verbal.  I am still a bit shocked.  My concerns had been dismissed by her schools for years as her not being as 'academic' as her older sister, just average.   After spending ages researching Coeliac  desease in French schools before christmas (with some really helpful folkes on here)  and thinking things were starting to fall into place,I now have to deal with this too!

I spent last night surfing and learning as much as I can about the condition and we will get help for her here ASAP but as we have to move in the summer. What on earth should I be doing in regard to choosing a school.  I am assuming that a small College Privee is the best idea as opposed to  the large college with International section which had appeared the best idea initially.  We had planned to visit schools again next week but I need to know quickly how the system works in this case.  I am assuming that even a traslation of our written report will not be accepted in France? is there a deadline application date for College Prive, will schools refuse to take her as a 'problem' pupil? Should I get her assessed under the French system (I understand it is seen more as a medical/speach problem there) before trying to have her inscripted into a school????

I would really appreciate some guidance from parents of dyslexics or teachers in the system.

Thanks in anticipation,

D

[Val_2]

My two have had nearly eleven years of french education so far and are still hard at it,neither expecting to be finished before they are 24 at least. I have been through it too with them at every new stage and suffered too with the problems that have emerged and it seems the higher they get in education here the harder and less caring the teachers seem to be. The only exception to this being after standard Lycée in another specialist establishment where it is more specialised with tiny classes and good teacher immersion,but at normal Lycée and collège as well, if the teacher takes a dislike to your child then that is it, nothing you can do until they move on to the next year or stage. I cannot comment on how good or bad education is in the UK as we only had a very few years in the early primary system and that was ok but the children didn't learn very much due to the huge number of pupils in each class. What I would never do is bring a child here over the age of 11 to start in the system unless they had good fluent and written french and knew something of the education already,it is too much for them to take on board and those who say their kids took to it and were fluent within a few weeks are very far and few between or have been looking at it with rose tinted specs trying to convince themselves that they have done the right thing even if the kids in question are miserable and learning nothing at all. Ask any french teacher who will tell you that the earlier foreign children are put into the system in France, the better it will be for them later on.

[Berlioz]

Thanks Val,

It is because I dislike rose tinted specs that I use/trust this forum.  I never though this move was going to be easy but it is turning into a nightmare. 

[Val_2]

I'm sorry if I have upset you with my reply but unfortunately that is how it is here,TU will back me up with that I'm sure!You can get help with reading and writing problems via the school and the doctor with an orthophoniste and my son did this for two years with a bilan bilangue which helped him no end especially as he has very mild dyslexia with certain letters. Discipline is far stricter here too and many times children are smacked in primaire and no one complains as it teaches the child not to do that particular thing again. Any child with severe medical or learning disabilities can apply for assistance via the local mairie and the social services dealing with that particular problem.

[Berlioz]

Val, your reply did not upset me at all, I would far rather know what I'm going to have to deal with.  I hate the 'don't worry it will be all right' rubbish people tell you when you just KNOW it isn't going to be that easy.  At least I am going into this with my eyes open knowing what I will be up against. Forewarned is forearmed! Our daughter still wans to live in France and is so releived to know why she was having problems.

I like this forum because people such as yourself are willing to give the benefit of their considerable experience to newbies like me.  If I wanted a bit of nice soft focus, rose tinted specs advice I could watch 'A Place in The Sun'  - I bet they never do a feature on integrating dyslexic/special needs kids into French school!

I'm really grateful for all the very good advice I have received over the past few months. We are going to visit two small Catholic College Privee next week and the large state College and at least I will have relevant questions to ask.

Donna

[Val_2]

Thank you Donna, some people would  have been particularly vehement to my reply as its not what they WANT to hear. I do you wish you good luck and hope all turns out OK and at least going in with some idea that it won't be all plain sailing may even make it less traumatic for all concerned. Don't forget to use the mairie if you have problems with special requirements as they are the people to go to especially if the school is out of your commune and you need help with transport etc. I should mention at this stage that should you opt for private school,then your local mairie isn't obliged to assist with transport or anything as we had someone in our commune approach us onthe council for financial assistance towards a taxi to get their child to a private school some miles away and everyone laughed at their cheek and threw it out.

[Berlioz]

Hi Val

I'm hoping that transport won't be an issue as hopfully we will rent fairly close to one of the schools so we have some flexibility.  I will have to do a school run anyway for my elder daughter. Its not a rual area so there are several college to look at.  Thanks for the tip about the mairie.  

All I have to do now is find a nice French school that can deal with a dyslexic, coeliac!

Donna

[McJules]

We have been living here just over a year & have managed to find a very 'nice French school for our daughter & son, now aged 6 & 7.  It is a Waldorf Steiner school & from one term's experience I cannot recommend it highly enough. 

Our children spent their first 6 months in France at a traditional school, Maternelle & primaire. The maternelle was fine; though a bit babyish for a child transferring from Year 1 in English primary, the teachers were kind, caring & interested, & our daughter was able to concentrate on improving her French rather than academic work. Our son was in CP (1st year at Primaire) where the attitude was completely different. The teacher there was rude, inflexible & overburdened by her large class (half CP & half the year above). As some of the above posts describe, the system is inflexible & the children are expected to sit at their desks working quietly for much of the day....our son did pick up French quite quickly & was able to converse easily with friends, neighbours etc but lost all confidence through his teacher's attitude towards him & others. 

We moved to a different area for the Steiner school in time for the September term last year - our children have never been happier.  The philosophy of the schools is to use education to bring out what the children have to offer, not to force them to learn the same old stuff .  It is a little daunting to move your children from the rat race (they were previously at private schools in London) to a place where reading & writing are not the be all & end all, and they spend most of their day 'playing', ie music, languages, nature discovery, painting, crafts.  They do no tests or exams, but at age 11 (unfortunately there's no steiner college near here) they move smoothly on to the local college & do really well.  The teachers are dedicated, interested and kind but appear to be able to keep good discipline through respect.  Each Steiner school, of course, is different, & I can only speak for ours but they are all based on the same aims & beliefs.

For info on the Steiner method & schools, their website is www.steiner-waldorf.org.  They are not profit making & are run by the parents & teachers, usually with no government assistance. 

It may be of interest to some of you who are looking for an alternative to the 'traditional' French school.

[HLG]

One crucial thing that British parents must realize is that British

schools are child-centered whereas French schools are

knowledge-centered.  Also, the teacher is more important than the

parent. It will be expected that you be deferrent. If you're not, you

may expose yourself or your child to being ignored. Just as, in Japan,

you'd bow before a teacher, act according to the native customs.

For public school teachers who are more, errmmm forward thinking, I'd

recommend checking out whether Freinet teachers teach in your local

primary school - then choose the village or neighborhood according to

your findings (in towns, full-fledged Freinet schools accept up to 30%

kids from other areas.) Before you make a request, be SURE to read

either

Nicholas Beattie's "The Freinet Movements of France, Italy, Germany"

(skip the Italian and German parts!!!) - probably in your Uni library

as it's a scholarly book of sorts, but very easy to read (actually

gives good info about French schools at large and lots of history)

OR/AND

for a simpler approach with lots of tips about French primary schools

in general, check out Lee and Sivell "French Primary Education and

L'Ecole Moderne". (fittingly enough, l'ecole moderne is the real name

of the Freinet network.) This is a PUBLIC school system with a

particular philosophy, so you ought to know the philosophy before you

enquire. It's not a private school where the Head seeks to encourage

parents to register, but rather only enrolls children whose parents

understand the difference between a progressive public school and a

private school. Acting like a client is SURE to irk them (it's

happened... Ie., people who demand information or that their child be

registered, want to know the fees or if giving money will help

registration...!!!)

Other progressive teacher groups include AFL and GFEN. 

For dyslexic children: your child has a RIGHT to a state-subsidized ORTHOPHONISTE for as many lessons per week as is needed.

Please note that up until 1992 primary school teachers were not

informed of the existence of dyslexia or other learning disabilities,

so if your child's teacher is older than 35, in all likelihood you'll

have to take it upon yourself to explain what it is (buy her a good,

serious book about it, and offer it, with a desultory shrug that "c'est

un.) That's why many teachers think the child is "stupid".

A good way to eschew this difficulty is to have your child take an IQ

test in the UK, in English, and show the test results, especially if

they are 120 and above.

Secondary school teachers receive no pedagogical/psychological training

whatsoever so NONE of your child's teacher at the collège and lycée

levels will have any idea of what you're talking about unless they

themslves have a dyslexic child (I mean, sure, they've heard about it

on talk radio, but it's about as reliable regarding the disability as

the Sun's page 2.). However, mentioning that your child attends "une

orthophoniste" will help a lot. Your child can get "certified" dyslexic

(though it's a real ordeal - so bring rom the UK  a certificate

with all the medical stamps you can find). This certificate grants the

child rights towards exams, especially toward the brevet and the bac

exams.

One good news though: the incidence of dyslexia in French is much,much

lower than in English; so your dyslexic child in English may not be in

French!

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="HLG"]

One good news though: the incidence of dyslexia in French is much,much

lower than in English; so your dyslexic child in English may not be in

French!

[/quote]

I'm rather taken aback. I had assumed that dyslexia was independent of

the language in which teaching was being conducted. I had no idea that

it varied in this manner. One lives and learns. How much lower, if you

happen to have figures to hand? Do other languages show varriations

like this?

[SaligoBay]

[quote user="HLG"]One good news though: the incidence of dyslexia in French is much,much lower than in English; so your dyslexic child in English may not be in French!

[/quote]

Are you sure?  Is it not rather that they're later in their public recognition of it as something real rather than just basic inability or stupidity?

 

[Teamedup]

Re Dyslexia.

 

In 1999 it was the firm and unalterable belief by ALL my son's teachers in college that orthophonists cured dyslexia and failure to be cured was in some way self inflicted. High IQ just proved that the child  was lazy and unwilling to be helped as they were bright enough to be. Tis a very bad cocktail, being bright AND being unable to write as is expected in a french school and woe betide you if you could give your answers verbally and not write them.

It was around the year 2000 that french orthophonists in France actually started getting any proper training to deal with dyslexia and that was off to a slow start then. Orthophonists after all are speech therapists and that was what they were being taught during their training, dyslexia had about a weeks study time out of their several years training.  Hence my friend found herself in 2002 going to the orthophonist her son had been seeing for 5 years doing a test on said lad to see what sort of dyslexia he had....... the orthophonist  had been on a course, progress at last.

 

Less dyslexia in french schools? Likely around 10% like everywhere else, but the teachers don't have any requirement or desire for the most part to get involved with children's learning difficulties. Their remit is to give their lessons. An on the spot assessments of laziness on the part of the child is easy. Or for those that do care parents are refered to orthophonists who do not (usually) work in liason with the school.  I have known orthophonists who have wanted to work with the school, so far I have not heard of a school that works with the child and orthphonist, although it is now 2006 and I would hope that somewhere this was now happening. Although in our region as in Fougere the new movement is to send dyslexic kids to schools for the deaf. Strangely as my own son was far better at oral responses than written this sounds very unusal to me that he could have been put with children who could not hear, I just do not understand and there is no way he would have agreed to such a move anyway.

Spot on with the requirement to kow tow by parents and better still if Dad is suitably humble and asks for help.

 

I spoke to my friend with her dyslexic son last year and she said nothing had improved. In fact it felt worse as she had expected things to become more enlightened. This is in spite of the main research unit for dyslexia is at the IUFM for her region and has been working since around 1999.