Advice needed for primary schools in or near Cognac

[Flora]

We have a bilingual 7 yr old who is not progressing well at the local, very small, village school.

Basically I am asking if anyone can help us to find a better school for him.
Our other children went through junior school here in France with no problem at all...we were very happy with their schools. Then we moved 12 km bringing us into another department and thought it would be a good idea to transfer our then 4 yr old to the village school to help support the school( dwindelling numbers) and help him make friends in the area. I know that my son is reasonably intelligent, just like his brothers and sisters and has had the same type of upbringing apart from the fact they did go to School in UK for a while, although No 4 had only done reception class and moved here age 5.

Problem is that now he has had the same teacher for two years (CP and CE1) and because of class numbers the school has proposed keeping him and 2 others (the 3 youngest of Sepember's new CE2 class) with the same teacher for a third year.
We find that virtually all his real learning work is given as homework( at 7 the amount of work he has had every night for the last 2 yrs is horrendous) and any progress he makes is due to our insistance, mostly combined with sulks, tantrums, tears etc.
Obviously this cannot all be the teacher's fault as other parents in the class appear to be satisfied,but we have decided that her methods are just not right for him.By the way we are not maniacs about his progress but feel that he should be able to read reasonably by now and at least be capable to write a few simple phrases, and this is really hard work!

We were only informed of this proposal the day before the end of term. We are not happy with the idea of a third year in the same class and when we requested that he go into the other class with the rest of the CE2 the other teacher in the school tells us that her methods are the same anyway! We don't want to be thought of as the difficult English but we have to do what we think is best for him.I might add that he is perfectly happy with the social side of his school and has friends there , but just doesn't seem to learn anything at all. Trying to teach him ourselves when he gets home tired after an 8.20 to 4.30pm day is just a frustration that we feel we have to stop.It really spoils his free time and all our general family time when we should be able to do other things with him.
Now we have to find a school that will be right for him. We thought perhaps a bigger school in town might have a broader outlook as well as more chance of having a one year grouping.
He has been in a class of only 13 children for the last two years (two year groups in the class).It seems that teaching two year groups is more time consuming even when the numbers are so small. basicially we have a reasonably intelligent child who won't work unless there is someone behind pushing him!
anyway, have gone on too long I know....does anyone know of anything good or bad about schools in or around Cognac?

The idea of moving him is not an easy one bt but as we have been to express our concerns numerous times and nothing has changed, we don't feel we have any choice. Wherever he goes we will have to find the funds somewhere to buy a second car to take him. We would just drive him back to the neighbouring department where the others went to school but I don't think transfers between departments are easy to get because of education finances of towns and villages.
HELP!!!

[Richardbk]

LAST EDITED ON 08-Aug-03 AT 10:46 AM (GMT)

You should first (demand to) speak to the area inspector and psychologist. The school should provide you with their contact details. It is unusual that they tell you this on the last day of term and it is further more unusual that 3/13 should redouble - . Possibly there is an alternative motive such as trying to keep the school open ?

Simply changing schools is not necessarily an option unless the Mairie agrees and/or you go private and/or the inspector agrees. With such low class numbers the Mairie is probably going to be reluctant to allow you to use another school. In any case as I have often said on this forum the level of teaching, particularly for the slightly under average is very dependent on the style of the particular teacher and whether they will make the effort. The type of state school makes less difference due to the limited authority that the head has over their staff.

It is not unusual not to be able to read/write French well at 7, particularly from a English speaking home environment. I.e. it can be difficult for the parents to assist and they do not pick up enough 'global' vocabulary, even though they may have many French friends.

Last year our daughter was in a similar situation and in addition she was also slow at reading and writing English. we had all the same problems of trying to motivate after a long day, do the homework etc. She redoubled CE1 and in addition we took our own initiative to
- a) sign up for some private schooling (1 hour/week)
- b) install French only TV in her room and limit access to English TV,
- c) invested in some French (and English) CDROMS and
- d) we insisted on having 1/2 term meetings with the school(headmaster, inspector and teacher) in order to assess progress.

It has not been perfect and even now at 8 1/2 the reading in either language is not yet 'fluid', but it is now starting to come and overall there has been a dramatic improvement over the last year. The private 1to1 schooling has been a great motivating factor, the TV has helped introduce more vocabulary and the Computer has made it more fun. I'm personally not sure she will ever easily fit the French system - even from maternelle she was never much interested in learning - too much of a free spirit with too many more important things to do such as riding and swimming, but at least there is now a glimmer that she can do it if she tries. Our son on the otherhand, just about to start the 3rd year of maternelle is completely the opposite and so far seems to fit the French system like a glove.

Best of luck in whatever you decide to do.

regs

Richard