Secondary Schools in Morlaix

[poinksy]

Hi, Does anyone know of  a Secondary School in/near Morlaix that has other English children attending or English speaking teachers. My children are girls 12 & 14 and are not keen to move to Brittany as they feel that they will not have any friends and struggle at school. If anyone can reccomend a good school in any area of Brittany with some English community i would be grateful!!

[Val_2]

This is my local town. There are many secondary schools(collèges) round the area and as far as I know there are very few, if any, english children attending them. Currently my son is the only english child out of 2000+ students at the main Lycée and when his sister was there last year, it made just the two of them and it has been about four years since another child left, the parents whom I know.Before that, again, they were the only two english kids at our local collège. I will warn you now, a 14 year old will find it very tough going especially as the Brevêt is taken at 15/16 for entry into Lycée and that is one hell of a lot of catching up to do with French, one foreign language and all the usual french history and other subjects to learn. Personally speaking I would wait until my kids had finished their UK education before relocating but luckily ours were young when we came here and got a good grounding locally in primary school. There are no english schools here and you will not find one to one help given either, there just isn't the teachers or funds available. You may find better news further south in Huelgoat where there are a lot of english children or Carhaix but if you are living near Morlaix the travelling would be your responsibility. As regarding english speaking teachers, all collèges in France have english teachers but only to take those particular classes and you shouldn't expect the other teachers and the principal to speak english even if they do know some words.  Finistère has rather less english people living in it than the Côtes d'Armor,Morbihan and Ille et Villaine so maybe you should think about going more towards Rennes, Dinan,Vannes etc where there is more ex-pats with children in the local schools.

[Georgina]

Hello, I don't know about secondary schools but we have our house in Morlaix, soon to be permanent.  We have visited the school for our six year olds nearby and have found them very helpful and polite.  They let them stay for a little while to get a taste and I intend putting them in a bit longer for the experience later this year.  I suppose ours are at a good age to move.  At your childrens' age, perhaps if you are really intent of moving to France, you could get them private French lessons beforehand and move where there is plenty for them to do.  Morlaix is a very pretty town with miles of beautiful beaches nearby which our kids think are fantastic. 

Georgina

[Liz]

You might like to have a look at http://brittany.angloinfo.com/af/250/ although it only serves to confirm that you are unlikely to find any schooling for over 11s in the Morlaix area or even elsewhere in Brittany. The school mentioned at Carhaix only takes them up to 11 but, by the sound of it, the Head takes an interest in English pupils and may be able to suggest some other lines of enquiry.

Liz (29)

[Barbara]

We now find ourselves in a similar position with wanting to relocate to Brittany with 3 girls 10 12 and 14: I notice you wrote this some 7 years ago and wonder how you resolved these issues. Any help and advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[idun]

Do your children speak, read and write fluent french? In fact do you?

If not then I think that Val2's advice about finishing their education where they are is still relevant. In french schools children are expected to read and write french to a high standard in all their lessons and they have been learning to read and write from the age of 4. Ofcourse there are children who are very gifted who catch up very quickly and do well. But they are rare. Are your children that talented?

[Barbara]

I do in fact speak French fluently and have already started to tutor them with a view to us moving to France next January (2012), however, I am aware that we are asking a lot of them to catch up so quickly. With this in mind we are now thinking that we will go with an open mind and just rent a property to begin with. after 6 months we will re-evaluate the position and possibly return to the U.K. for the start of the Autumn Term 2012. This seems to tick the boxes as they will only miss 2 terms and will have had a wonderful experience: the 14 year old will still have 2 years to do her G.C.S.E.s and the 10 year old will be able to start secondary school at the beginning of year 7. However, still need to find a good school!

[NormanH]

Much depends on your definition of 'a good school'

I doubt that many UK teenagers dumped in a French school for a few months would find the experience 'wonderful' , nor would they consider the school 'good'.

Have you thought about it from the school's point of view?

Why would they want the bother of coping with a foreign child even supposing that they have the inclination?  Would there be a place?

Why the rush?