Paris Primary school following UK curriculum

[whysea]

Hello,
I am going to Paris next year, and I am looking at schools. My DC are 3 & 7. Clearly the younger one will go to a regular maternelle, but the older one should go somewhere compatible with the UK curriculum. Suggestions ? I have contacted EJM, they are quite positive, but it freaks me out that they ask for a WISC-IV test for 7 year olds : last thing I want is my daughter to start worrying about being smart enough. I am considering Kingsworth, and looking at earlier posts it seems ok, but has anyone actually been there?

Why does your 7 year old have to go to a fee paying bilingual school?
If you are English speaking at home, they won't lose English by going for a regular French state and state subsidized school.

I have 3 children who've been educated in French. They are fully competent in English and you'd never know they've not learned English in school. It's perfectly possible for a 7 year old to return into English in 5 or 10 years time.

If you want your DC to keep up with British English, EIB Monceau is a good bet. My bilingual DD (12) there from 3 to 11 and she is totally bilingual/biliterate. Some of the English teachers at EIB Monceau are fantastic and the school offers a very enriched curriculum - far and away better than a French state (or Catholic) primary.

The issue is that I won't be in Paris for very long, just 7-8 month. My 7 years old will go back to her current school after that. Not to make the Paris experience too stressful, as I am told France and UK have different curricula (?) thus the fee paying school..

If you are only in Paris for 7-8 months, do not bother with French - it will make your DC struggle for nothing.

Agree with Bobochic. Send your DD to the ISP or BSP or another English speaking school. 7-8 months in a French or "bilingual" school will achieve nothing, except stress.

Kingsworth has only been open for a couple of years so it's hard to know much about it but it certainly looks good on paper: would probably be fine for a year and cheaper than BSP or ISP

kingsworth is a brilliant school, primary kids are taught equally in french and english and it gives the perfect balance. teachers are lovely, the kids are lovely, and the fact that it's such a small school gives such a loving environment and it's incredible how happy all the little ones are. 100% recommend it.

Hello,

My daughter is 14, 9th grade (3ème in the French system), she would like to enrole in Kingsworth. We visited the school (Passy campus) and it looked great, but would someone have a child in this school who can tell me more about the relationships between pupils, and between pupils and teachers ?
Are they successful at IGCSE ?

Thanks a lot !!!
Buzzie

The deputy head of Kingsworth has just been jailed for grooming a student. Sacked by EIM Victor Hugo and on the UK sex offenders register having been jailed for sex offences against boys for 6 years in 2006.

Yep sex offender information is supposed to be passed through the SIS2 Schengen information system (UK and France both members).

www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/freed-paedophile-julien-bertrand-gets-job-as-teacher-ck27rqbls

Pretty shocking in fact that the head of Kingsworth didn't even bother using google - had he used google, he would have found plenty of evidence about his deputy and his criminal past in the UK and France. The head is even quoted online as saying he'd written a musical with Bertrand recently, which would have meant very close partnership, yet he didn't use elementary searching on google!!!!!!

www.ibtimes.co.uk/devil-paedophile-founds-private-school-paris-after-leaving-prison-1650915

Please don't jump too quickly to condemn Kingsworth.

Mr Bertrand left EIM (not under bad circumstances (at least publicly) to join with others to start Kingworth. As such, he would be the one "vetting" rather than being "vetted".

Also it is simply not true that a quick google search would have turned up the information. It didn't. And in fact, the article referenced was written long AFTER the school found out and ended ties with Mr Bertrand.
The school dealt with the entire matter in a quick and professional manner. They even brought in a counselor to work teachers and students.
It continues to be an excellent school. And the primary school is a very special place. Please call them and get a tour. Many kids are very happy there - even after not liking their previous schools.

From 2006 and been on the internet for 12 years.
www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/apr/25/stevenmorris.uknews2

2006
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/paedo-hunters-622338

Crikey - that’s a bit of a shocker. Slightly alarming that the current headmaster set up the school with this guy when even the most cursory check would have turned up his previous history (let alone an official check). I’m slightly surprised that word would not have got round from his previous school -Paris is a pretty small place when all is said and done. These were not old offences.

Hello, we are expected to be in Paris for one year, possibly longer. I'm very curious about Kingsworth as a potential middle school for our child. I've see that it's a fairly new school and am wondering if anyone can post any recent information about it.
Thank you!

Kingsworth School is a really lovely school. The staff really care about the students and the atmosphere is very supportive and encouraging. The fact that it is a small school has its advantages and disadvantages but I have been very happy with the support and results which both my kids have received. My experience is only with the secondary school but I hear very good things about the primary school too - both campuses have great locations. It is definitely worth sending your child along for a tester day.

On the subject of the deputy head - it was a real shock for the school. The man in question is very manipulative and he deceived everyone. It is only now that so many searches have been carried out online that it is possible to find the reports of his offending in the UK - that is the way algorithms work. Because he fled the UK following his jail term without going through the correct channels, the French were never notified that one of their nationals had returned and was now a convicted pedophile. A French criminal background check still doesn't show his conviction as a pedophile in the UK (I have heard that he is now teaching at an international school in Prague). The system doesn't work as it should so his criminal record from the UK hasn't followed him. Kingworth's lawyers did everything they could and notified the French authorities but the police here in France said their hands were tied and that there was nothing they could do to change his French criminal record. I would also say that the school did everything in their power to ensure the recovery of the school - they hired counselors for the staff and students and I would say that the school is now hyper-vigilant in screening the staff. The school and certainly the students moved on very quickly from the whole episode which is really a testament to the dedication of the staff.

Kingsworth is not accredited by any of the agencies that oversee standards in international schools. As such, parents are in the hands (at the mercy) of the proprietor and have to put their faith in him/her to educate their children to acceptable standards. This is not, in the 21st century, generally considered to be an acceptable way to manage a school. Furthermore, children moving on from schools with no accreditation can find it difficult to get into a school with decent standards.

Good, well qualified teachers who care about their pupils and their own career prospects also refuse to teach in schools with no accreditation. It is not hard to understand that they are something of career suicide in a sector where credentislism is rife (for better or worse).

Credentialism

You can't just say stuff like that which isn't true. The school is accredited by UK exam boards and is an exam centre and is also accredited by an organisation called ASDAN. Additionally, it is the law in France to send kids of school age to schools which have been accredited by the local authority so the school is locally accredited too - there is no truth in what you are saying at all! All the teachers are qualified (mainly UK qualified)!!! AND many of the students including my son (currently on a gap year) go to UK and overseas universities. I don't know where you are getting your info - have you even been to the school???

Which agency that oversees standards in international schools is Kingsworth accredited with?

The only type of accreditation available in France is for French schools, which are either publique, sous contrat simple or sous contrat d’association. Kingsworth is none of these and is therefore hors contrat (unaccredited). Only very minimal health and safety inspections are made for French hors contrat schools. There is no oversight of educational standards at all for schools that are qualified as international, teaching in languages other than French.

Examination boards are not the same thing as accreditation agencies and the fact that a school enters its pupils for eg IGCSEs does not mean that the school is inspected or accredited. ASDAN is an alternative curriculum provider.

Teachers at Kingsworth may well be qualified but qualifications date.

The school situation in Paris isn’t easy for families who wish/need to educate their children in English. The main bilingual schools are oversubscribed and largely cater to children who do not have one/both English speaking parent(s). The mainstream well established Anglophone Schools (BSP, ASP, ISP, Marymount) are all fiendishly expensive and largely populated by short term expats with packages that cover school fees or by the very wealthy/super rich. EIB Victor Hugo has never really taken off and is unlikely to given that its new shareholders are driven by profits rather than academic standards. The new startup Anglophone and bilingual private schools that cater to families with less cash and/or children who cannot contemplate French school are themselves too short of capital to offer something recognizably competitive. And the accreditation problem is a huge issue.

@joanna17 I’ve sent you a PM as we might be moving to Paris for September and I need to start researching schools. Not keen to stress son out by putting him into French school as he already rebels against the Italian he has to speak at home with DH and it’s important he’s as happy as he can be.

@joanna 17 do you work there?
Because what you say is not true, @MariaNovella is right about the status of schools.
Kingsworth is 'hors contrat', it is just a business as far as France is concerned and the only reason for such schools to exist is that we think parents have the right to choose anything from home education to state education, eg some them are ultra religious etc.