Native language as Exceptional Medical or Social Circumstances in school admission - any ideas?

[Phenikz]

We are French speaking Swiss Family. All primary schools in our area but one offer French as part of their curriculum. We applied to our local catchment school under the admission rule about "Exceptional medical or social circumstances". Our reason (exceptional social circumstance) is that our son needs to access French as part of the curriculum. In this way he will maintain his native language and we will preserve our linguistic cohesion as a family. If he does not experience French at school, he will be embarrassed and reluctant to speak it at home and will eventually loose it. This was happening to our elder daughter until we moved her into a school that does offer French. Then we will have to speak English, a foreign language, to communicate within the family. We do speak English as well, don't get me wrong :), but we would like to preserve our cultural heritage.

For sad reasons we were allocated a place at the only local school that does not offer French, even though we are not in its catchment area. The curriculum there is deliberately restricted (even "Topics" were abandoned) because it is failing (in special measures), so they are not likely to teach French in the foreseeable future.

We are going to appeal. The LA did not consider us under this rule maybe because it is not medical or social services related. But some LAs, Devon notably, do interpret it broadly and include compelling educational reasons.

Could anyone advise what the law about exceptional reasons is? Any other laws or regulations that could help us?

Any experience?

Thanks

I don't understand?

You are French speaking and yet are worrying that if your son doesn't do basic French at school he won't speak French?
Eh?

Most people in your situation (myself included) would be more keen to have their child exposed to a non native speaker language. I'm worrying (slightly) that my daughter simply won't have a foreign language because her school only offers English as a MFL.

If you all speak French at home, how the heck is your son not going to be able to speak French?

Thank you all for your comments. French is the only MFL offered locally as far as I know.

Any other idea anyone?

Any expats with some ideas or experiences?

What about the Human Rights Act 1998 which confers a right of access to education including for example, the parents? rights to ensure that their child?s education conforms to their convictions (so far as is compatible with the provision of efficient instruction and the avoidance of unreasonable public expenditure)?

Equality legislation?

You could always Home Educate, which is one of the options available under the HRA.
I still think you are flouncing about because the school is in SM.
Un poisson rouge of the herring species.

Op- seriously, you cannot be trying to convince anyone that the French syllabus in primary school is going to keep your family together as a cultural heritage bonding thingy?

If you really think that, you are in for a heck of a disappointment.

There are lots of expats on this thread already.

Yes, sure, I'm going to pop over to France or Switzerland and demand they educate my child in advanced English at primary, possibly employing a special teacher, hoofing another child out of school and disrupting the timetable and curriculum while they're at at. Then take it to the European Court of Human Rights if they refuse.

Grow up. It's not all about your child.

Then again, Britain always loses out in cases like this, however unfair, so why not give it a shot.

"(so far as is compatible with the provision of efficient instruction and the avoidance of unreasonable public expenditure)"

and I think you'll lose out on this in the first nanosecond

Equality legislation can't apply. In fact it's inequality in its purest form to prioritise you as a French speaking family to access French lessons without providing exactly the same opportunity to every multilingual family.

"What about the Human Rights Act 1998 which confers a right of access to education including for example, the parents? rights to ensure that their child?s education conforms to their convictions (so far as is compatible with the provision of efficient instruction and the avoidance of unreasonable public expenditure)?"

I don't think you can play that card either. Your child is accessing the English state system therefore that system must meet with your approval on some level or you'd have opted out. I could see the point if you were trying to access provision at Wix or Marie d'Orliac or a CNED approved school but as far as I can tell from everything you've said you're not - you just want your child to go to a school which offers French lessons. Wanting your child to have French as an MFL isn't a conviction.

Several expats have given you their point of view, specifically on why we WOULDN'T want our children taught their mother-tongue at school. If your argument is this school doesn't offer MFL then you need to make it happen, and FWIW I'd suggest that you chose a language other than French.

you live in england - we speak english - end of

Actually, thinking on what Gooseberry has just said...my daughter has missed out on a European Union funded afternoon project that all her friends are doing- in English, with a native speaker, because she already is one (well d'oh) I shall get out the Human Rights Act and complain forthwith!

Sorry OP, don't mean to kick you when you're down, but you must see how silly you're being.

That one/two hours of la plume de ma tante every week is not going to make any difference to your family (apart from making you rolly-eyed like I am with dd's English teacher and some of the crap strange things she comes out with!)

Unnecessary. Pls excuse -- have just reported my own post.

can i share a little something with you op? we live in canada, a bilingual country no less and my dcs are 11,9, and 7. their school does not have french, despite most other schools having french lessons, or a french immersion programme (it is, to be fair, the language that you need for business etc in certain areas of the country).

so i am in a bilingual country in a school that doesn't offer french. go figure.

in fact, we are due to move soon, and no longer have the option of french immersion, because my children have not been in a french programme. in a bilingual country. but at least the kids will actually have a french lesson or two, come fall.

please tell me you aren't going to carry on with this nonsense.

do your utmost to get your dc into a better school. but puh-lease don't continue with the french as necessity thing. you will be a laughing stock. and everyone will know you are just pulling that card because the school she has been allocated isn't as good as the others.

the dc have also spent time in a school where there were approx 30 different languages spoken by the pupils, with the large majority having no english at all on entry (and entry being at all points from yr r through to yr 6). the tefl programme was exceptional, and all pupils were, if not fluent, reasonably functional in english at the end of the year. real value added.

sending your child to a school with a once a week french lesson taught by a maths professional with a durham accent, is NOT going to add value to your child's education at all. not a jot.

being in that school might - so i can see why you want to get in, tbh. but it ain't because of the french lessons.

you'd get more sympathy if you started a thread saying 'oh no - been allocated a failing school' and asked for help with that. and left out the ridiculous language nonsense completely.

legal route indeed.

If you take it to appeal you will be wasting your time and the LA's money.

It simply does not stand.

When we lived abroad we chose to send our DCs to the local school so that they would learn the local language. So far as we were concerned, they got English for free as that was what we were speaking at home.

I think you are looking for every angle you can think of to not send your DCs to a failing school. So why should some other poor soul have to miss out on a place at your preferred school?

From my experience having a bilingual French student in my first French class, she didn't 'help' us and wasn't really stretched - her mother was requested to send in exercise books for her to fill in as her linguistic capability was beyond the teacher. She sat by herself at the side of the class filling in the books and listening to the rest of us parroting 'Je m'appelle'

Also, if my experience as a TA last year is anything to go by, the new primary French requirement has sprung French on several teachers who don't speak it at all. I had to translate the letter from their exchange class as the 'French expert' teacher couldn't do it - all it said was their names, their hopes for a strong friendship with the school and what they liked doing/studying as a class. Your child is unlikely to be chattering away with their teacher and being set stretching work.

I sympathise that you don't want your child in a rubbish school but I really don't think you have grounds for appeal - primary French would not help your child in any constructive way.

I can't believe you are thinking of wasting local authority money this way on legal fees. So flaming selfish.

Plus you aren't even a citizen of the EU?

I need to stop thinking about this.

Sgetting me all annoyed.

There is no need for this aggression. The Waterloo battle is over for centuries. I know you like everything French....
Please stop bullying if you already had your say and have nothing more helpful to offer.

This tone intimidates posters who might have helpful suggestions.

Can anyone suggest anything I can use? Anything helpful?

This board is meant to offer support and advice.

You are having a laugh OP. I really cannot believe that you think that your child should be entitled to French lessons.
If it bothers you so much hire a French tutor.

Some posters seem confused with ghosts of their own invention.

The tuition and the specialist teacher is already there. It is a standard provision in the LA in all schools but one. There is no additional expence for the LA.

We are all here trying the best for our cgildren.

And given that schools only have to provide a MFL there is no reason for them not to swap between them . I taught French ( as I had GCE French Grade B from 35 years ago!) for a couple of years and then we swapped to German ( as a teacher joined us who spoke some German after living there for a few years). She has now left so either we go back to teaching French or her replacement teaches Spanish ( I think she has been to Benidorm a couple of times )
Sorry to sound facetious, but quite honestly that is the level of MFL teaching in many primaries.

People are annoyed OP because some posters have children with special needs who cannot even access the curriculum and you are expecting French lessons for your child. In the words of John Mcenroe(sp?) ' You cannot be serious'

"The Waterloo battle is over for centuries. I know you like everything French"

I thought you were Swiss?

You've had plenty of helpful suggestions. People are trying to stop you from making yourself look an idiot. But after your snidey comments, you can go right ahead. Do let us know how you get on at the Hague. (actually, I know a human rights lawyer, but strangely she's usually busy working for Amnesty International in Chinese prisoner of conscience cases......not sure she'd drop that for, erm, a case of sour grapes over being placed in a dodgy school)

As I posted upstream, a failing school can actually be a better option than a mediocre school. A failing school will get a lot of support to improve it. I'm assuming we are talking primary here. The school will have measures in place to deal with its failings. It doesnt matter if French has been dopped from the curriculum as you can provide it yourself.

I can understand you being upset that your DCs have been allocated places at a failing school but the only way to get your DCs into a better school would be for other someone else's children to go without.

It is a lottery which you didnt win.

There are a couple of regular posters on here (prh47bridge, admission, panelmember) who have a great deal of expertise and experience to offer with regards to school admissions. Yet I have to say, everything I have ever seen them say about primary school appeals reiterates the point that if it is "infant class size" you're up against (i.e. no KS1 class may rise above 30 children) then you will not win an appeal unless you can prove that the LEA has made a mistake in allocations.
Hopefully one of them will be along in a moment to expand further.