Bilingual primary schools in Paris

[Mr78]

Hello everyone, I was wondering if anyone could offer some advice as per thread title.

I going to be soon moving to Paris as my company needs me to move there and that is with some urgency (I will have to move in around 5 weeks’ which doesn't leave too much time for preparing…)

The advice I would need is around school as I have two kids, DD 8yo and DS 7yo. They are completely bilingual in English and another Latin language but don't know French at all. I want to enrol them in a bilingual school, both to ease their transition and so as not to lose their fluency in English.

My researches have landed me with the following shortlist:

1. La Canopée (10th arr)

Pros: we visited the school which seems nice, lovely teachers very focused on the children, small classes (16 pupils for every two years) and a lot of emphasis on true bilingual education and helping kids learn at their pace and even respecting their natural biorhythms through the day Cons: the school is very small, they don’t even have a common space for the kids to stay all together, they need to go to a nearby park for recreation, I am not sure as to what level the kids would reach at the end of Primary school when compared to the National Curriculum

1. Cours Moliere (12th)

Pros: seems to be very focused on taking the French National Curriculum and making it both more challenging and more interesting (hard to fault this) Cons: very contrasting reviews ranging from “incredibly good” to “money milking machine” so I am really confused

1. Jeannine Manuel (15th)

Pros: well, it’s consistently ranked one of the best schools in France… Cons: I hear it is very upper class and elitist

1. EiB Monceau (17th)

1. Petite École Bilingue (17th)

Of these last two I do not know much at all

Now, considering the above, I would be really grateful to hear any first hand experiences from anyone who happens to know more about how these schools are (either as a parent, a teacher or through friends) and can give me an understanding of their real Pros&Cons

Thanks for any help!

Consider the percentage of francophones in each school if you want your children to learn French. If English dominates, it will be the language of the playground and fluency simply won't happen without all after school time being in French too.

Consider also the fact some of those schools are completely private with no control over what happens in the school from outside bodies whereas some are state subsidized and controlled.

Hi life isunjust, my understanding is that these serve a very mixed population, from francophones pupils learning English as a foreign language to anglophones completely unable to speak French. Or at least that's what they say but I have no idea if that's true, hence why I'm asking if anyone has a direct experience.

Shameless bump
Anyone can help here?

I might have chosen the worse period to ask, given it's mid term in France and any school age parent is bound to be either away or running after their kids...

Join Message Paris, it'll give you a much more detailed answer than you'll get here.

Thank you GaucheCaviar! Heading there right now.

M.

The 'English speaking mums living in Paris' (free) closed facebook group are very knowledgeable too - though you have to be female to join. There are lots of schools, what works depends on means, location, priorities etc but the group are very helpful. I'm in Paris suburbs and a member but useless on schools as my eldest is only 2 and will go to the local maternelle.

Thank you frenchfoodie, I will ask my wife to join the group