Are we letting DD down by not considering this school?

It's so hard to get it right. From my DD's educational perspective, the Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye would be absolutely the right school for her from collège onwards (her current school is certainly the best bet for maternelle and almost certainly for primary). But do we want to go and live out in Saint-Germain? Should we push for the DSSs to go to EABJM or Saint-Germain for lycée in the "Seconde Accueil" format (ie for children who haven't previously been in bilingual education) or should we just leave them be in the French system but run the risk that they turn around when they are 25 seeing their younger sister with more international opportunities and tell us we didn't give them as many opportunities? Grrrrrr. I feel for you - we all have our own family context, our children have their own talents/skills, and there are only so many schools that any family can realistically choose between.

I do think, however, that there is something to be said for staying in the same school for collège and lycée when that is a possibility (my DSSs' collège is standalone, so not an issue for us) as I think the move to a school with new classmates at 15 when the bac is looming is potentially quite demanding.

Thinking back, it was exactly at this point two years ago that we started looking at the Catholic school options for DSS1 because we were worried about the collège. After quite a bit of research and soul-searching we abandoned that idea and, with hindsight, that was exactly the right thing to have done.

DSS1 is in 4ème and DSS2 is in 6ème. They are both in state collège in Neuilly-sur-Seine and we are pleasantly surprised by how good it is - we were not really expecting it to be so.

Having said that, at the end of DSS1's first term in 6ème his report wasn't very good (right it the middle of the class) and we had a few wobbles about it. But it really was all about the support and encouragement we were giving DSS1 at home and not about the quality of the environment at the collège. Once we had sorted out the messages and encouragement we were giving DSS1, all was fine and he is right up at the top of his class (and is now in section européenne so quite selective).

DSS2 got off to a much better footing - we were forewarned and gave him lots of preparation, support and encouragement right from the outset.

Your DD is in sixième, right? What do you think about waiting out collège and making a decision on lycée (state or private) in three years' time, based on the results in the OIB in both schools at that point?

Sure, I will let you know.

DSS1 and DP (and possibly DP's exW, though we are not holding our breath) are going to the presentation at Ecole Active Bilingue Jeannine Manuel (www.eabjm.com) on 3 February to check their lycée out for DSS1 as well. I have already been to the presentation and it is very impressive. The very good thing from our POV is that EABJM is in central Paris; the less good thing is that it does OIB option américaine and not britannique. EaB where DD is does option britannique but with crap results (unlike EABJM and Lycée International which are both super academic).

This is conversation about SCHOOLS IN FRANCE. If we have to repeat in every post exactly what the thread is about, we will be here all day and all night.

It's about Catholic schools here in France and if you read the thread you will see that I have said both positive and negative things about them. It is not about "Catholics"

yes but you didn't say you were anti-catholic education - you said you were anti-catholic.

It's not out of context Anna, it is offensive

bossykate - if you aren't Jewish, then I would sincerely hope that is how you would feel about educating your children - or would you feel neutral about sending them to a Jewish religious school?

Not much annoys me more on MN than being attacked for quotations taken out of context of their discussion.

Depends, Castile- if you're looking at getting her into Grande Ecole later, you have to be very careful about which lycee she goes to, as the classes prepa generally do not accept students from schools in poorer and deprived areas. If she is not aiming for GE, or you plan on sending her to university in the UK (which is what I and my siblings did), I would leave her where she is.

"We are both pretty anti-Catholic in a general sort of way..."

bonsoiranna, can't let that go i'm afraid. what if i said, "i'm pretty anti-semitic in a general sort of way..." (i'm not btw).

heyho. it's not as though you could go much lower in my estimation anyway

We are going to visit the Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye later this spring - we are going to check out the lycée part for DSS1 (on a very outside chance he will be interested) which is really a pretext for me getting a good look around with a view to sending DD there for collège... It is definitely the place to go for OIB, and especially OIB Britannique.

I hope they are helpful for you - I have certainly found them very helpful so far.

Why don't you ask the Lycée International de Saint-Germain en Laye for advice? Since it is the biggest centre for the OIB, gets excellent results and really knows its stuff - I'm sure they know their market inside out and have all the info about the other schools doing the OIB and which is the best bet for university admissions to the UK.

The woman who deals with admissions to the Section Britannique is called Sarah Grégoire and is very efficient - if you look at their website you will find her telephone number and email.

Do you want your DD to do the Baccalauréat à Option Internationale Britannique?

In the case of my DP's cousin, the family was forced into a decision when the eldest of their four daughters was in 3ème. They had jogged along with the local state schools (in Courbevoie) through primary and collège but knew that their local lycée was inadequate and their elder daughter not academic enough to get a place at a really good state lycée out of their catchment area. So they had to move her to a private school and the all girls Catholic option (in Neuilly-sur-Seine, which is on DP's cousin's way to work, so logistics aren't too awful) was the best for them at that fairly late stage. They moved all four girls at once and quickly realised that their elder daughter was going to have a major struggle to catch up with the much more demanding academic standards at the Catholic school versus her state collège. She has in fact had to repeat her seconde - it is not thought likely that any of the other girls will need to repeat a year as they moved to the more demanding school earlier in the system.

I know what you mean about the cliqueyness and snobbery of the French Catholic bourgeoisie that chooses Catholic schools. It is not something we like one little bit. There are some frighteningly retrograde Catholic schools in Paris, that we would always run a mile from - but there are also some excellent Catholic schools that are innovative, forward thinking and prepare children very well for the world beyond school.

Bilingual education is very well served by secular schools here, however.

I am atheist Anglican and DP is very liberal Jewish. We are both pretty anti-Catholic in a general sort of way and would always prefer secular education.

We have, however, contemplated Catholic schools for the DSSs - we rejected them because the schools didn't offer a better academic education than the state secular schools the boys were already at. I doubt, given that we are in Paris with lots of choice of bilingual schools, that we will ever need to send any of the children to a Catholic school. But I would always put academic opportunities first, if push came to shove.

DP's Jewish cousin has sent his four half-Jewish, half lapsed Catholic daughters to an all girls Catholic school in Neuilly. Now he has done it (18 months ago) he is very cross with himself for not having done so sooner.

Wouldn't harm to go and have a look at it and see what exactly the school can offer in the way of facilities / opportunities that the present school doesn't.

I think after a good look round and a talk with the head perhaps, you should get a feel for the place.