Moving to Brittany from Melbourne

[Atoo80]

Hello all, I have been offered a job in Retiers, the job is a good position but I have a 13 Y old boy who is in grade 7 in Melbourne and I am so worried about how his transition between school works, we do not no French but have about 3 to 4 months to learn basic, any recommendation from your experience is highly appreciated. Thanks

Hello, I wouldn't move a child your son's age to a country where he doesn't speak the language as it will be very tough for him and limit his educational opportunities: you need a good level of French even as a native speaker to do well in our education system which is very competitive, and 13 is already too old as he would be in the last year of collège or possibly first year of lycée when you move. Even redoing 3eme won't be enough. I'm sorry to be so negative, I wouldn't do it myself, in your situation.

If you’re talking about putting him into the French system, then absolutely not. We’ve been here 1.5yrs and my son started off in an international school (with a bit of French) and has now moved to a bilingual collège. He’s coping, but nowhere near able to read or write above basic French. In addition the French school system is much more rigid. Lots of homework for one. My son is happy, as he’s adapted well, but no way would I drop a child in at last year of collège or lycée age.

If you’re talking about an international school, then maybe. You’d need to keep him in it though …. there’s no way he’d be able to transfer to French state system. My son will need to transfer to an international lycée after collège.

How fantastic a job is it that you would move from Melbourne to a tiny town of 4000 people 40 minutes away from Rennes (an actual city but nothing like Melbourne)?

Thanks for your advices ladies, do you know if there is international schools in rennes?

Thanks a lot for your advice, may I ask what is the name of international school that your son has started? Is it in Rennes? Thanks for your info

Hello everyone, does anyone know an international secondary school in Rennes France? My son is 13 years old and I am looking for an international school for him in Rennes. Thanks

As far as Google can tell me there is no international school in Rennes. There are a couple of lycées with what we call international sections but you have to be excellent in all of your subjects in French as well as English to get in, and it really isn't an international school as anglosaxons know them.

You will find it tough living in France without speaking proper French but for your son it will be disastrous.

We’re in the western suburbs of Paris, where there are plenty of international schools. You’d need to Google Rennes. Personally, if you’re going to a relatively small place, you’d need a major, major reason to go there.

This. We’ve adapted well because a) we’re in an international community and so have found a tribe to hang with b) both DH and I spoke passable French as a starting point c) Paris is an awesome city. If there’s no sizeable int community in Rennes that = no friends for you and most importantly your son. He’ll be utterly miserable.

International schools are really only in big cities and mostly very expensive.

Rennes is a fantastic city but mostly if you speak French! You're unlikely to find high levels of English in the countryside - though not impossible! I don't know Retiers, but beautiful forests in the region if outdoors is your thing.

As far as international schools go, you've got collège Rosa Parks in Rennes with a bilingual stream, and they support those with French as a second language. And St Vincent La Providence in Rennes with an American English section all the way from Primaire to Lycée

There's also St Anne in Brest which is much further and it's only 6 hours a week in English.

Lycée Basch in Rennes has a bilingual stream but again not aimed at non-french-speakers.

Would it be possible to do the move once your child is 18 and could choose an English medium university course?

Try Lycee Grand Air in La Baule - but you need to be bilingual and pass the entrance exam to sit OIB. He may be OK if can pick up 4eme and 3eme quickly. They do weekday boarding so he could travel back on Friday nights - not doable by public transport but a 2 hour drive (obviously both ways if you are doing it)

As other PP have said there is also Collège Rosa Parks and Lycée Victor et Hélène Basch in Rennes but again would need to be fluent in French and English.

More info here: https://www.ac-rennes.fr/les-sections-et-parcours-internationaux-au-sein-des-etablissements-121603

Guys, her son has no French at all. None of the sections will work for him. Only option is an international school.

Thanks alot for your support. We will start the language learning from Melbourne and we will have 6 months time before we get there. His English is very good and we plan to focus on his French. Thanks for introducing the schools. I will look into them.

Thanks for your info. He is 13 years old, they wont keep the job until he is 18 but we have 6 months to go there and I am planning to focus on language for all of us, my son, myself and husband too. Thanks for providing the school name...

You will need super super intensive French now.

Honestly Op, is this career opportunity really worth it? Do you even want to live there? And I say this as someone generally all for living abroad.

At his age your son will be nowhere near the level needed to have any choices at all in a French school after 6 months of tuition no matter how intensive. We don't teach eg maths the way you do either, the syllabuses don't coincide much with those in English speaking countries. Can't he live with grandparents and continue school in Australia?
I don't know what your academic aspirations are for your son or what his dreams are but he is likely to find himself in lycée pro and have his options imposed on him because his French will not be up to succeeding in lycée général.

How great an offer can it be if you don’t even know the fundamentals of where you plan to live? Baffling. And at such a pivotal stage of your son’s life too.

This can’t be real - OP do you know anything about Brittany, Retiers, living in France or the French education system?

Your son is not going to learn anywhere near sufficient French in six months to enable him to go to a French college or lycee. His only option is a fully English international school.

Please listen to those of us who live here and are familiar with the French system. In addition to the challenges of learning French, the education system and syllabus is different. There is loads of homework. Kids don’t tend to socialise much after school as the school day is long (my son finishes at 1635) and kids have homework and/or clubs.

Your son will find it incredibly lonely and frustrating. If you’re insisting on doing this, then you need to suck up the fees and put him in a fully international school (not the English speaking section of a French school).

I don't think the OP has a clue actually as shown by thinking Retiers is a place anyone has heard of, I had to look it up and I'm French, living in France. And I teach in Lycée général.

I agree. I lived in Brittany for 25 years and my dd went to Rennes2 uni. I've never heard of Retiérs

We have a choice of living in Rennes, Retier is only 30 minutes to Renne, we donot have to live in Retier but I think there is no international school in Rennes, is there any place that my son could go to learn only French to pick up the French? If we accept the offer, we will be there around May 24, could we send him to French learning school and he starts the official school on 2025? Would it works?

Are we saying that there is no way to move there for us?

Becoming fluent in another language and being able to take significant exams in that language takes anywhere from 5 years to much more. Even if he was in an intensive program.

Please do not do this to your son, send him to a proper international school.