Year 7 French Exchange

[loopyloo87]

Hi my dd will be going into yr 7 in Sept .
I received her report today and to my surprise there was a letter regarding French exchange in yr 7/8 , I thought it only applied to yr 8
I'm not feeling comfortable with her staying with a family for a week that I don't know and she'll still only be 11 when she goes I think
It's too young
Has anyone got any thoughts or have a child that has been please ?

My DS has just been on an exchange trip to Germany, he stayed with a German family for a week in June/ July and we had a German pupil stay with us for a week in January. It's been a great experience, but my DS is 14 and in yr 9 and the German students were the equivalent of yr 10. I agree with you, I think yr 7 is too early. Yr 7 is about settling into secondary. Also, DS only started learning MFLs in yr 7, I think a little more proficiency in the language would be needed before staying with another family for a whole week overseas, DS didn't know much German by the end of yr 7.

I host foreign students and the younger they are they dont cope as well. Particularly if they don't speak the language well.
If her French is good then she'll be ok as the language is the main barrier.
If she delays can she go in yr 8?

I think delaying to Y8 would help with language acquisition. However I think you are never going to know an exchange family. Anymore than the French family know you!

My DDs in Y9 did a term exchange to South Africa. They were 13. Although they went to boarding school, they had host families. I think you have to trust the system and the school. However my eldest DD has been told several times that doing this at 13 (and she flew with one other exchange girl and no parents) has marked her out as someone who is enterprising and capable by employers. It has been totally positive.

If you don't think she's ready, then you just don't sign up to it.

She can either do it in year 8, or indeed not at all.

On a tangent, I'm assuming this is your eldest DC? Because the rate at which they (typically) change in the first weeks of secondary is as big a change as the first weeks when they started school in the first place. This sort of trip is entirely normal for secondary school pupils.

Will your daughter be sitting Common Entrance? For some schools this timing is all about helping the children prepare for their exams. What are your biggest concerns for her at this age? Do you think you will feel any differently when she is in Yr 8?

Often, if close friends are up for it, then they tend to see it as an adventure together. Frequently trips to the French school are included and coach trips to places of interest. Every waking minute is rarely spent with the host family. How are you ever going to know a host family?

I used to love these trips and they did help me acquire language as well as understand the culture by living with a family. I would recommend that you let her go, if she wants to.