Jules Ferry School

[DjP25~DJP~]

Hi, does anyone know anything about the Jules Ferry School close to the centre of Haute Vienne as I will be a teaching assistant there next month.

Any info appreciated

Thanks x

[Paris]

Which town is the school in?  Our little place is not in the Haute Vienne, but if you give the name of the town there may be someone living nearby who may be acquainted with school/town but not by name.

Julia

[Missy]

[quote]Hi, does anyone know anything about the Jules Ferry School close to the centre of Haute Vienne as I will be a teaching assistant there next month. Any info appreciated Thanks x[/quote]

Many Jules Ferry schools! in France!!

It seems that you are refering to it as a special kind of schooling, learning environment such as 'The Montessori Schools' that exist in UK.

Jules Ferry was a politician in the 19th century and did a lot to make schooling available to everyone. One of the big academic reformer of the time. Therefore his name is used to name schools .... In UK it is Saint This or Saint That County Primary school. Whatever... Since early 1900 in France, the clergy is not allowed to meddle in the affairs of the republic and government and learning must be free of all religious bias, so schools are named after famous people that did a lot for education during their lives, be it politicians, authors, poets, academics...

So which town your 'Jules Ferry' school is and we may be able to help you more on the subject!

[dave and aileen]

Hello,

How come you dont know anything about it, but you have a job there ? Just curious.

Aileen

[Dick Smith]

I believe that in the French school system you are posted to a school with little or no choice. I knew a husband and wife who taught together, but he was about to be posted elsewhere, and they were negotiating that they would both be teaching in the same town. So its quite possible to be sent to a school with no knowledge about it - and unlike the UK you can't look up the inspection reports, and school websites are uncommon.

[Tourangelle]

Dick's right in that in the French school system you can be posted anywhere, it is the downside of being a civil servant. However I don't think that is the case here. I was an assistant myself some years ago. Language assistants from the UK are students in the third year of a four year degree course in a language. Being an assistant in a French school is one of the accepted way to spend your third year which must be spent in the country/countries of the language you are studing. It has the advantage of being paid, and being organised by the university, whereas the other options, finding ones own job or going to study in a French university, are not necessarily so advantageous. This is clearly what the original poster is doing as he/she is starting in October, which is when assistants start. Language assistants are selected by the university in the UK, and are asked just to chose which académie they would like to be in, they are not selected by the schools themselves. The exact same system works the other way around for French students coming to the UK, except they don't have to come as part of their degree course, it is just optional.

[DjP25~DJP~]

I understand that there are many Jules Ferry Schools all over France, I have been looking on the internet for information, although my school does not seem to have a website. It's near the centre of Limoges i take it. It's true that I have not been given a lot of information about the school. I'm not yet at university, have just finished my A levels and as part of a gap year am being a teaching assistant in Limoges. Although me and the other 2 people who are going with me, are having to act as though we are in our third year of university on our placement, because they have a shortage of students taking up these posts. I go in 3 weeks and dont really know much about accommodation yet either

Den x

[Dick Smith]

I assume you have found this:

https://intraedu87.ac-limoges.fr/BDECOLES/recherche/details.php

and this

http://membres.lycos.fr/alimoges/ecole.htm

Which at least gives you some information, an address and a phone number. I'd give them a call - they may assume (thinking that you are at university) that your tutor will have given you information.

[tkndnv]

I too had a stint as a teaching assistante and it was so badly organised. I was supposed to be teaching in a college and two primaires, only when I got there they hadn't decided which ones. That took over a month during which time I was doing absolutely nothing (it is forbidden under the terms of the contract to get a second job) and feeling very fed up. When I was finally allocated a school, the headmaster screamed at me saying he wanted a "real" English teacher and not some 19 year old kid on a placement. I am not intending to scare the original poster, as everything worked out in the end, just don't expect everything to be handed to you on a plate. I had to make several trips to the Academie de Lille to sort things out and even then they weren't very helpful.