MONTREAL French Elementary Schools

[TheBFactor]

SORRY - I posted this on another thread by mistake under "longhaul" travel. This is a better thread for my message, here goes :

Hello everyone, we are emigrating to the beautiful province of Quebec next year (we are still waiting for our Canadian visa but have received our Quebec certificates already : )

Can anyone please tell me more about their French state primary (elementary) schools, any recommendations, etc. ?

I have been on another forum which wasn't parent-centred and didn't get much of a response unfortunately.

As new immigrants DS and I will have to learn French quickly. DH is already fluent in French and a Francophone in every sense ! Hence the move to Quebec.

DS (nearly 8 now) is already taking French lessons here in the UK and has good passive knowledge of basis vocab. He is already bilingual (English and our native language) - French is his 3rd language and with high exposure at school in Montreal he will learn it in no time.

We look forward to full integration, we don't see ourselves hiding ourselves away in an English or Anglophone enclave. We love French culture (Quebec style) ; )

Any suggestions please, where to live, where NOT to live, which French elementary schools please ? I have heard there isn't much difference between elementry schools over there, they are all pretty good, is this true ?

Ideally we would like to live near downtown Montreal.

lucky you going to live in Montreal!!
I attended elementary school in Quebec but that was many, many moons ago. As far as I know, you don't apply for schools in Quebec as you do in the UK so I think your son would simply go to a local school. One thing to know is that "school boards" are in charge of a group of schools in a particular area. However, the curriculum taught is generally set by the provincial government. (there is no Canadian curriculum because each province is in charge of primary/secondary education). I would say there is less variation in quality between schools, compared with the UK.

Where to live? The West Island (ie western end of the island of Montreal) is known for being very anglo and very suburban. That includes places like Dollard des Ormeaux (DDO) and Beaconsfield. Notre dame de Grace, aka NDG, is also viewed as an anglo enclave as is Westmount however this is changing. Outremont is really nice, quite upmarket, viewed as a bit of a Francophone version of Westmount. The Plateau is cool, full of students, media/arty types, very inner-city. Perhaps one thing to consider is that if you live in a very downtown area, the school may well have just an asphalt playground and no field/grassy area for playtime. Off the island of Montreal is St Lambert which has a good mix of both French and English speakers, nice housing stock and very good links to downtown, via the Metro. Laval is very francophone but also VERY suburban (on the north shore).

As the city has over 3 million inhabitants, there are literally hundreds of schools so I think you need to perhaps narrow down the area you live in first. My info is quite dated but if you have any more questions, feel free to ask me.

Just wanted to add that unfortunately the level of English taught in French schools in Quebec is not very good (it wasn't when I was a child and it seems, judging from the link below, that this is still the case, with the result of increasing number of parents choosing to send their children to private schools where they will get better language instruction.)

angryfrenchguy.com/2009/08/18/quebecs-bizarre-segregated-school-system/

Hello -WGIT !
Thanks for the quick reply. DH went to visit for a week a few months a go - delibertaley went in the middle of freezing Jan. to get a feel for the weather

I've lived in a very similar climate before (continental extreme hot and cold) like Quebec, so hopefully won't find that too much of a shock ? I hate not having seasons here in the UK, much prefer distint seasons.

My French is now minial but I loved it at school and am told have a gift for languages (or is it just because I've a big gob, don't know which ?!)

DS also suffers from "big gob" genes from my side, won't have problems making friends IN FRENCH as is very sociable and witty

Sound like I'm talking myself into it, right ?

Actually no. 1 reason for our move is to live in a more friendly, family/child-centred community, something we lack in our current location.

DH knows old school friends and even an old neighbour living there, so hoping we will fit in quickly as the people seem to be very friendly, strong immigrant communities, multi-cultural, etc.

We are into good quality inernational food, art, jazz and films - Montreal meems to have all of these.

The film scene seems to be very strong in Montreal, their "Meet Up" film group has an absurdly large number of members - whereas where I live now I go to the cinema ALONE and never meet anyone mad enough about weird, indy films like me !

I hope I'm dragging my family to the right side of the world !?

Sorry can't spell today = ; O
distinct seasons
minimal French

True, fortunately I teach English to adults (both native speakers and non-natives). So at some stage I will have to make sure DS doesn't lose his English in favour of French. We speak English and our native language at home, so this will continue when we are there.

My research so far says that the private schools are much more affordable in Montreal than here in the UK.

Do you think that an average professional couple with one child can easily afford a private secondary in Montreal ?

I'm hoping he will speak French fluently at his first elementray school over there and then in 2 or 3 years time when he is ready for secondary school, I'll find him a privte school (a bilingual one of there is such a thing ?)

hmmm...

jazz, indie films, great food, tons of restaurants, art, a strong 'coffee' culture, great bicycle scene, a world class orchestra ... check to all of those.

friendly and family-friendly? not sure about whether I'd describe Montreal as those. I suppose it depends on what you view as friendly. there are lots of ethnicities in Montreal but there are also ethnic tensions, closely linked to language, language laws, etc. I love Montreal deeply, warts and all, but am somewhat uncomfortable about the idea of "pur laine" and insiders/outsiders. On the other hand, Quebec is very socialist and introduced $5/day childcare years ago.

You are right, private schools are certainly cheaper in Quebec than in the UK and, as you will know, housing costs are much cheaper than most parts of the UK, so my feeling is that yes, if you are both working you could stretch to school fees, as part of your salary that would have gone on housing back at home would go on school fees instead. (having said that, i don't want to leave you with the impression that schools in Quebec are bad, just that not much English is taught, largely for ideological/political reasons). I found this quote online just now: "About 17 per cent of the province's students are enrolled in more than 200 private and independent schools. The percentage of private school enrollment is even higher in some urban centres, like Montreal."

(Just so you know, private schools are relatively cheap because the vast majority of private schools are partially funded by the provincial government. But BECAUSE most receive this funding, they are subject to the language laws which prevents most children from attending English language schools. so you couldn't simply choose an English school for your son at secondary, even if you went private because he will not have an eligibility certificate. There are a few exceptions. There are a few English schools which do not receive funding and which can therefore admit children who do not have a legal right to an English language education). as far as I know, there are no officially bilingual schools in Quebec.

this article explains the whole private school English eligibility thing:

www.lifesitenews.com/news/archive/ldn/2009/oct/09102710

it's a bit complicated and rather controversial - and changes over time as legal challenges are made to various bits of Quebec's language laws and the government itself makes adjustments to legislation.

HTH.

oops, pure laine

What - you are great ! So much useful information, thanks.

Yes I agree family-friendly is a very subjective/emotive issue. A simple hello and smile from parents at the school gates, playgrounds, a friendly face, people talking to my son and treating him like a human (rather than a pest in public places) would go a LONG way to make me a happier mummy than I'm right now ; (

The private education thing is fascinating. I had read that many Montreal children are privately educated whereas here in the UK only 7% of kids are privately educated but 70% of UK judges are privately educated !!!!!!).

I was privately educated (nothing like an Etonian boarding school nor near as much money!!!) but it was good enough and I always loved school.

I simply can't afford any of the private international schools here in the UK, a prime motivator for us to move abroad.