French international schools, anyone got experience of them?

[SSSandy2]

Has anyone (non Francophone) sent their dc to a French international school, i.e. a French school outside of France?

I'm considering one here (Germany)for primary but wondering about yet another language as language of instruction and how the system is. I found the German system quite formal/old-fashioned and I'm looking for an alternative really.

This one:
www.collegevoltaire.de/

Hi, my sisters and I went to the French Lycees in London, Barcelona & Mauritius & were educated in the French system all the way through primary & secondary school.

I think the french system is also old fashioned & strict. I actually found that conforting as we moved quite a lot but school was always the same wherever you went.

re picking up another language of instruction, we didn't find it a problem as we were young.

My parents did find it confusing having children in a system they did not understand.

Thanks Lulla, a teacher recommended the French schools to me for the same reasons that basically if you move country, the new school will be more or less at exactly the same place in the same book as the school you left, so it's a great system if you're moving around.

Will go and look at it. Like the fact they have Wednesdays off which gives us a bit of time for music and things. Don't know anything at all about the way French education is organised though so I will be even more in the dark there than with the German schools which is a bit offputting.

SSSandy2

I am hoping to send ds to a french school in Luxembourg next year, so I am in a similar position of having to try to understand the french system. If I have any luck, I'll post...

good luck with it Rantmum. I think if you start school in French, ds will be fine. I have the problem that dd although bilingual, first attended German school and would then have to move into year 2 with zero French so not idea for her, perhaps too stressful. Still looking ahead, it is a good longer-term option from all I've heard.

Not easy is it? I really have no idea how French schools are organised and what the schoolday is like. I can get by in French with no claims to be near-native standard but I can understand and read it and I think get my message across, but I'm not as fluent as I am in German - and I still found the German SYSTEM hard to understand/accept IYSWIM.

I don't know about French schools abroad, but I have 2 children in school in France and agree with Lullamay that the French system is indeed very old fashioned and rigid. The French themselves have been known to call it a "dinosaur". There's little room for individuality or creativity - it's about moulding kids to fit the system. I don't know how it compares to German education, but be warned that it might not be very different! Look hard before you leap...

Sorry to sound so negative, it's not all bad - my children have excellent general knowledge and know a lot more than I did at their age! And we do all we can to encourage their creativity outside school.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

I had a feeling it might be a bit like that Castille. Hmmm. How do you find their approach to bullying? Are they strict about that? Do you like the way children interact at school and the way teachers behave towards the children (I know every class is different).

Nicolas Sarkozy has just written a "Lettre aux éducateurs" (letter to teachers) to mark the rentrée scolaire and to set out his vision of what French education should be about. If you look at today's Le Figaro on the internet you will find a link to Sarkozy's letter as well as several articles about education.

Personally I thought Sarkozy's letter is great, but his ideas are very forward-thinking for this country.

SSSandy2 - I know people who have sent their children to French lycées outside France, though I have not done it myself.

French people generally seem more satisfied with French schools abroad than those at home. However, as other posters have pointed out, the system is very centralised and rigid. I am not sure that I would wish to send my child to a French school if he/she was not partially French... but then, it depends on what else is on offer, and I know you are very dissatisfied.

I also think that joining the French system from another system at age 6 or 7 might be quite hard - other children will have been in the French system for 3 or 4 years by that time.

Discipline in the classroom is generally good IME, outside pretty lax.

Thanks Anna, those are the things that I've been thinking about too. I will go there on Tuesday to see how it is with all the comments here in mind. Bit undecided about the wisdom of introducing another language at this stage.

How good is your French?

Hi, Me and siblinggs all went to french lycee in various coutries outside France.
Agree with everything that's been said below.

With hindsight, I still believe it is far superior to many systems in providing sound classical general knowledge but it is indeed very very very conservative. We were not even tought basic computer litteracy in the begining of the nineties.....there weren't any computers and absolutely no creative extra curricular activities (just sports).

We are also itinerant and DS has just started at the british school. For me nothing beats learning through play in elementary years. He is very outgoing and imaginative and I just do not see him strictly being made to sit and listen at this young age.

As for languages,it's definitely not too late but after this you have to stick to your choice.
We are in singapore and most international schools (english speaking) introduce mandarin in the curriculum around 6/7 years.
The kids usually already speak an additional native language and that's no problem.

Can I ask you why not simply consider anglo internnational school????

SSSandy - typed a reply to your message and it wouldn't post, so trying again.

Re bullying - we weren't over-impressed by the response we got when DD was being picked on (and others' experiences confirm what we found). It's a bit head-in-the-sand, schools definitely don't have a written anti-bullying policy! Badly bullied children often change schools as a result.

Classroom relationships are a bit authoritarian - teachers are there to impart knowledge, children to absorb it, particularly at secondary level. Class debate and discussion is rare. There is a lot of rote learning and recitation which isn't very inspiring!

Let us know how you get on when you visit.

slim, I heard too many negative things about them. They may be ok but not really good I don't think

Castille, that doesn't sound too good. Hmm. Well I went and had a chat and I'm not sure it will be a huge difference to the school we tried and dd didn't like. I have a feeling I may have to look into schooling overseas for dd really.

Thanks for all the comments/advice!

What have you heard, Sandy? I don't have any direct experience as a student or parent at anglophone international schools, but I have a lot to do with them professionally, and many of them seem really excellent. I assume you're in Berlin - there are several anglo schools there - you can use the ECIS search facility to find them.

Message withdrawn

Thank you everyone for the comments, sorry I didn't see them before, assumed the thread was dead.

Bluestocking not all English language international schools but the ones we have here. However because I have no personal experience and it is all hearsay, I wouldn't feel comfortable naming the schools on here. Maybe they are ok, I've just been put off from what I have been told