Living in France

[Carrac]

I need some help. My family and i are moving to france this year and i have two boys aged 13 and 14 the problem i have is that i am worried about schools. Has anybody any knowledge about home schooling via british schools so that they can continue with their GCSE'S or alternatively the school system in France.

I cant afford to send them to private English schools so i would be looking at sending them to French state schools.

Thanks for you help

[JimmyCooper]

So before you decided to move to France, the schooling of your children never entered your mind?

[Carrac]

if you are not going to give a helpful answer dont EFFING Bother mate,

[jack daniels]

please don't reply back like your first answer
but my immediate thought was, could the boys not continue schooling here & then you could all move to France? or if they could stay with family & continue schooling here, if it's a must that the parents have to go now?
I'd of thought that having the british examination pass marks would be better for them.

[craft1948]

I understand that the french school system is very good - they study for the baccalaureate (probably spelt that incorrectly) which is an internationally recognised examination programme - in fact some of the top english schools are switching to this for various subjects.
see if this link helps
http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-education/

[Lil O'lady]

Carrac, I must echo Jim's concern that this matter is at the lower end of priority for your family move. However, there a shelfloads of books and magazines about the practicalities of living in France. The main difference you will find with the state system there is that progression between years is dependent on success in tests. I would get in touch with the education section for the departement you are moving to and ask thee what to do next.

[craft1948]

Carrac just go for it and enjoy your new life! My husband applied for a job in France and the company flew us over for the final interview and went through education options etc with us and I was very impressed by the state schooling system. (My daughter wasn't because they had school on Saturday mornings as well) I don't know if the hours have changed but they used to start very early but finish early so the children had some daytime at home. We did not move in the end for other reasons but later on in life my daughter did an economics degree course (in French) at a university in Brittany. Being bi-lingual got her the good job she has now.

[JimmyCooper]

Lol shoot the voice of reason

surely your childrens education should be the number 1 priority.

Home schooling my ar5e

yet another person living on the moon

[Carrac]

well Jimmy i can see the eduction system really served you well.

[Carrac]

I would like to thank Craft 1948 for the usefull and encouraging comments.

One of the reasons that I am leaving to live in France is that this Great Britain is somewhat of an urban myth. Yes eduction is important but so is community, safety and quality of life. My children could well stay and be educated in GB, but what then? They would would be one of the many highly educated unemployed post grads. At least by moving to france i am giving them a chance to see life, learn a language, see that you can do anything that you want and that England is the only country on the planet.

Fortune favours the brave and the only thing you get from sitting on the fence is splinters in your arse.

[Lil O'lady]

Go for it, it will be an adventure. But the French do have very high levels of gun crime - higher than the UK - so remember to duck!

[Rollo]

I hope your boys already speak French - otherwise their education is going to suffer until they learn it if they are entered into a French state school.

They will probably do quite well in their English classes though.

[auntiebertie]

Get them to a French crammer every day between now and leaving the UK to get their French standard up. Send them to a French school which has a far higher standard of education than England -and within a term they will be fluent. They are young enough that being a term behind is not going to hurt them -they will soon catch up and be bi-lingual to boot.

[aniani]

I would advise you to find out if there is an International School in the area you are moving to. I moved to France when my children were 7 and 6 , they were both bilingual within 3 months.