British School of Paris honest reviews?

[ParisCurious]

Hello,

We are considering a move to Paris with our children who are currently in UK schools in year 5 and year 3 (they are aged 9 and 8). I am looking for honest current opinions on the British School of Paris. This would be a permanent move so looking for advice up to secondary level. I have read mixed things on Mumsnet but some of the posts are old, and I also saw that some of the A level results at A were listed at 37% which seems low compared to a UK school, but maybe this is because the school is a bit transient and non selective and that explains it, so the results don't reflect on the quality of the school? We need to make a decision quickly so I would be really grateful for any honest opinions and please feel free to PM me.

We would be so grateful for any advice or opinions, thank you so much!!!!!!!!

You have a lot of choice of international schools in Paris. I would go for ISP, ASP or Marymount rather than BSP. But with these schools you are looking at the IB, which is challenging if your child is not a strong all-rounder. And if you want your child to live with a good standard of French, BSP is not the place to go.

But I would visit and get a feel for which school
might suit your children best.

Also, if it’s going to be a permanent move, why not the French system?

If it's a permanent move I would want them in a school with better French.

Ok, so I replied to your PM not knowing this was a permanent move. In the case, you really want them to learn some French.

Do they have any French at all? We moved DS here when we was in Y5; he had zero French. He went to Malherbe International School in Le Vésinet (near bsp), which starts them off with about 30% French to English and follows the British curriculum. It was a nice soft landing into France. He's now at a bilingual collège (middle school).

You also have the Lycée International in Saint Germain-en-Laye, where there's a British section, but they'd need good level French. It's highly academic.

In nearby Chatou, there's Perceval, a Steiner school. French system, but they're used to having international children and the ethos is more child-focussed.

In Paris itself I'd be looking at the international schools that offer French. There are various ratios; usually the more English offered, the more expensive. Marymount follows the US system and has an excellent reputation. I dont know how much French is taught but I'm sure you can find out. It's very, very expensive though.

Just stick them into a normal French school, they'll be fine.

They won’t. Not if they have zero French. The Y5 child would definitely struggle; the Y3 might do better. At the very least, they’d need a school with a British section. We arrived in France half way through my son’s Y5. It’s a difficult year for them to arrive and make friends; would be worse if they’re dropped into a completely French school speaking no French.

OP ideally needs an international school with a good ratio of French, or a French public school with a British section and a good reputation for easing non-francophones in.

OP, do also start the kids on private French lessons now before you make the move. We didn’t, as it was Covid plus Brexit uncertainties, and I regret that now.

We have kids every year arrive with zero French, within a couple of weeks they can communicate easily with their peers and within a couple of months they're fluent. It's fine until they hit puberty and then it becomes a lot more complicated.

If it’s permanent I would be finding an intensive language programme then put them into normal French schools. Kids do it all the time in the uk and do brilliantly - my friends dc arrived at school with zero English and within 6 months were fluent and academically top of the class in maths and science

Also get the kids watching cartoons/films in French ASAP. The best way to learn a language is being immersed in it, if you put a child in a British school they'll just end up speaking English in the playground and that won't help at all.

https://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/international/review/the-british-school-of-paris
this might help..

Those A level results aren’t exactly stellar. I’m a school governor at a British curriculum school in Central Europe, and they got 44% at A/A* at A level, against BSP’s 27%.