what exactly is needed to get your kids into school

[Raygraham]

We have 5 children, aged 10, 8, 6, 3, and 1and a half, can anybody tell me what is needed to get them into school,ie, jabs,which ones? do we need reports from their previous schools? health records etc.. just any info at all that might be relevent would be such a help and would they go to the same school, i know we want them to go into a french speaking school are there any costs involved? do they wear uniform? i have also heard that we would have to buy all their school books, is this true???  so many questions,, please help. Ray and Jo

[Val_2]

Firstly in France it is normal to attend the local primary school inthe commune where you live, mainly to keep it open with fluent numbers continuing to go through or else they will shut classes down and get rid of teachers. You should apply at the local mairie for permission to attend and they will then put you in touch with the head teacher. Don't expect special treatment, i.e. english teacher to help the children or one to one treatment, it dosn't happen here as finances are tight. My kids were thrown straight in and took to it and were speaking well after just a couple of weeks. There is no uniform in France so you must provide clean,adequate clothing that is comfy and practical. Most schools demand slippers be worn inside to keep the floors clean. You will have to provide the usual stationery like writing items,exercise books and possibly a slate and chalk as they use here in our school. Some sports clothing too,usually just a tracksuit and trainers. School insurance is usually necessary and you can buy via the school system or go with your house insurers, about 20€ max per child. If you live some way from the commune school there will be a bus service provided at a small charge to yourselves and with that many kids, the price is reduced a little for each one downwards.For lunchtime there is a cantine with a three course hot meal for which you pay for and many schools offer an after-school garderie for those parents who work and can't return until well after school finishes. As regards jabs, you need the BCG vaccination and your health records to show measles,mumps jabs or illnesses etc.  Depending on which dept you live in, school is Monday,Tuesday,Thursday & Friday. Some depts still go on sat mornings. Be prepared to pay for school trips for the older ones and to help out whenever you can with fund raising activities and you should make some new friends.  State education is free in France funded by the government,the dept and partly by the local commune from your taxes foncieres for certain things.

[Brumble]

i will soon be moving with my 3 children age 10,7 and 3.  I phoned our local health clinic/centre and they are sending me an up to date list of the vaccinations our children have had which i will need to show in France.  Is it right Val that i have to go through the maire?  I was told by someone in our village that i can book to see the head teacher and don't actually have to go to the maire first.  Could it be different for each village?  I do think it best that they are thrown in at the deep end for maximum results and quicker learning of the language. Weve just sold here so should be moving in about 10 weeks. 

[Chrisb]

I just wanted to say, don't worry if your children are not  Quote:'speaking well after a couple of weeks' - we read quite a lot of comments along these lines when we first moved to France, and then worried that our boys (then 9 and 11) didn't seem to be  saying hardly anything even after a couple of months. 10 months on and they are coming on really well now, but it definately didn't happen overnight!

Regards

Chris

[Teamedup]

I never went to our Mairie to register our kids for school. The Head filled all the details in an official register at the school and checked all the health details. All the details in this register follow from establishment to establishment.

[Mistral]

I've got three children in primary at the moment (1, 7, 3) We registered the youngest for maternelle in June. What happened is that we had to go to the mairie to do a sort of pre-registration and once they had OK'ed it, we could then go on to the school and do the real registration. I think for the mairie, they only wanted proof of residence. For the school, I think we needed proof of residence plus the paper the mairie had sent us and the "carnet de santé"

The only obligatory jabs in france are BCG and DTP. they may fuss about the others but they can't refuse to take a child.

The days they go to school varies from commune to commune. In primary, the "normal" is Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri and Saturday morning. Some places do the "semaine de 4 jours" which means they don't have school on Saturdays. But the holidays are shorter to make up for the lost half days. This was very popular a few years back but is getting less and less so. My town is a bit odd, we have no school on Saturdays and have it on Wednesday mornings instead. It's been going for 2 years and seems to be working well. Any changes have to be agreed by the rectorat.

[Raygraham]

Thanks guys for getting back so quickly, i feel much happier now. alot of the books ive read make it  all sound so complicated, i think i'd be lost without the forum.  Jo

[Will]

The September issue of Living France includes a piece on just this subject.

[Mistral]

Here's a link to the page on the ministery's website. It explains answers most the questions about registering children in French schools. http://www.education.gouv.fr/prat/inscrip.htm

I've copied here the blurb about the basic steps to register children for elementaire and maternelle

Elementaire

Adressez-vous à la mairie de votre domicile en présentant :
- le livret de famille, une carte d'identité ou une copie d'extrait d'acte de naissance
- un justificatif de domicile (texte en cours d'élaboration)
- un document attestant que l'enfant a subi les vaccinations obligatoires pour son âge.

Faites ensuite enregistrer l'inscription de votre enfant par le directeur ou la directrice de l'école élémentaire en présentant :
- le certificat d'inscription délivré par la mairie ;
- le livret de famille, une carte d'identité ou une copie d'extrait d'acte de naissance
- un certificat médical d'aptitude ;
- un document attestant que l'enfant a subi les vaccinations obligatoires pour son âge.

Il est souhaitable de se renseigner dès le mois d'avril pour la rentrée suivante afin de connaître les jours et heures de réception des parents pour l'inscription de leur enfant.  
Si l'enfant ne change plus d'école, vous n'aurez pas à renouveler son inscription chaque année.

Maternelle

Allez à la mairie de votre domicile avec les documents suivants : 
- le livret de famille, une carte d'identité ou une copie d'extrait d'acte de naissance
- un justificatif de domicile (texte en cours d'élaboration)
- un document attestant que l'enfant a subi les vaccinations obligatoires pour son âge :
- antidiphtérique
- antitétanique
- antipoliomyélitique
- B.C.G.
ou d'un document attestant d'une contre-indication. La mairie vous délivre un certificat d'inscription indiquant l'école où est affecté votre enfant.

Il faut ensuite vous présenter à l'école. L'inscription de votre enfant sera enregistrée par le directeur ou la directrice de l'école sur présentation :
- du livret de famille, d'une carte d'identité ou d'une copie d'extrait d'acte de naissance
- du certificat d'inscription délivré par la mairie
- d'un certificat délivré par le médecin de famille attestant que l'état de santé de l'enfant est compatible avec la vie en milieu scolaire.
- d'un document attestant que l'enfant a subi les vaccinations obligatoires pour son âge.

L'inscription doit être faite au plus tard au mois de juin précédant la rentrée scolaire. Mais certaines communes la prennent plus tôt. Renseignez-vous.
Si l'enfant ne change pas d'école l'inscription n'a pas à être renouvelée tous les ans.

If translations are needed just ask

[Brumble]

What is the BCG vaccination.  Do our children have that here?  My vaccination summary from my doctor for our children show Diptheria, pert, tetanus, hib, polio, mmr, the above boosters and meningitus c.  Do any of these incorporate the BCG?  Will a vaccination summary from our doctor here be sufficient enough?

[Val_2]

BCG is the TB jab. Everyone had them  when they were in secondary education at about 13/14 years old in the UK certainly in the 1970's unless they were immune from the first skin test (how we scratched and scratched this to get out of having that jab). With the current re-emergence of this terrible disease in the UK it must still be current surely? Here in France it is given regularly from birth. They stopped doing it here in the local collèges about three years ago but the parents are informed to get the children done privately. You can get it free from the local Socio Médico clinic. You s till need to proove on paper the other jabs your kids have had already in the UK so bring all the medical records you can find or get copies from your doctor there to suffice.

[Brumble]

Thanks Val, you are full of info.  Got a feeling the TB jab is given in secondary school, if its the one you have to have the little skin prick test for first then it is. Mine have had all the other injections so we should be ok

[Val_2]

You are welcome, thats the idea of the forum to help one another with questions you can't find out about from anyone else and especially not the multitude of books on French living out there. Incidentally at collège my daughter had to have the Hepatitis B or was it C jab as well when she was about 13,but they have now discontinued that one here. At the end of the day its nice to know the authorities have our kids' best interests at heart by protecting them from all those nasties which keep re-appearing every so often like TB. As I said, if you can locate your local Socio Médico centre near the hospital where you are going to live, you can get a Carnet de Santé free for the kids to record alltheir info in and all the injections you need for yourself too especially tetanus and it dosn't cost a penny.

[Teamedup]

I was in our Mairie today and they still send everyone onto the schools to enrol, just like they did 19 years ago when I first asked and was sent on my merry way, either to the école privé or the école publique aux choix.  Would this depend on the size of the Mairie, ours has at least 7 full time workers there.