Summer School

[kelbo]

Hello all

We normally spend the entire summer holidays staying with friends in France and as my oldest child has started school and the youngest is starting shortly I am interested in finding out whether it is possible they could attend the local summer schools in the areas that we visit. Quite often we notice that there appear to be pupils in the local schools in the summer time but my french is not good enough and I am not brave enough to go in and ask! I have found out that through asking around in order to attend any sort of school I need to buy some sort of insurance cover but I am not sure whether I can buy this if I am not a permanent resident? Or whether my children would be entitled to attend the schools? We are looking at moving to France eventually as a long term aim and I think that it would benefit the children's language skills greatly if they could entrol at summer school!

Any help gratefully received!

 

[The Riff-Raff Element]

I doubt very much that your children would be allowed to attend the

summer schools arranged by local authorities. These are intended to

provide (as much as anything) child care facilities for working

families for at least part of the summer (here they only run during

July, not August) and those enrolling have to provide a social security

number in addition to the insurance that all families (should) have, ergo,

the children must be residents, not visitors. There are organisations

that arrange summer camps for children of any nationality - I'm sure

someone here must know details of these - but these tend to be

expensive and, I think, are residential so aimed at older children.

[slinky kitten]

Hi

Actually in my experience, all are welcome to the summer schools.

My children go to 'summer school' every school holiday whilst I work.  There are no formal lessons but the kids have a great time doing lots of different things - crafts, games, fishing, trips to riding schools, lakes, fishing, ice skating, adventure parks, swimming, cinema etc.

The projects are run by the Mairie and so are subsidised.  Our summer school charges 10€ per child per day, which includes all their outings and food.

I have a friend who came to stay for two weeks during the summer and her daughter went along with my two kids.  Even her lack of French wasn't a problem.  The co-ordinators normally prefer a bit of notice so that they can ensure their staffing levels are sufficient for extra children but that seems to be the only criteria.

So, do make enquiries - summer can be long and very boring for kids with not enough to do - what an excellent way to make new friends and learn the language.