Last year of primary school - how long an essay should a child be expected to be able to write?

[Anna8888]

It is very hard here in France to get any information about schools and their standards.

So we ask around. My younger stepson, who is at the top of his class in a state primary school in rich-and-comfortable Neuilly-sur-Seine, panics when asked to write a text of about three sentences long.

Other parents say that their children in private primary schools have a similar level of writing ability.

What would you expect in the UK? My memory is that we did essay writing in primary school (private all girls in the 1970s) but does my memory serve me well?

What does Aldo Naouri say?
Also had the impression that the French education system was wonderful, had a French friend who told me that as opposed to the English system, it taught children to think.....what do you think about this?

What does Aldo Naouri say?
Also had the impression that the French education system was wonderful, had a French friend who told me that as opposed to the English system, it taught children to think.....what do you think about this?

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hothell - on the contrary, the French system actively deters pupils from thinking for themselves. Heaps of rote learning, testing and grading, very little creativity.

Aldo Naouri urges a return to strict parental authority, the "because I say so" approach, with no explanation or discussion. It's horrific, frankly.

i thought this is how the French still brought their children up, most of the ones i know still smack, shout, very authoritarian kind of parenting. Is this what this bloke says? I assume he is 50plus...
Has the French system changed in the last 20 years or has it always been like this?

Yes a lot of smacking and yelling.

But Aldo says that too many children are spoilt and fussed over and parents too concerned about being liked by their children. He says whatever you do your children are "condemned" to love you, so show them you are in charge. By deciding that 2.5 is too old for a comforter toy or dummy and chucking them in the bin without telling them, for example

I used to teach English in a French primary (CM1 and 2) and really did not like the school system. There was no freedom of thought, it was all copying and reciting and don't even get me started on the handwriting!

If its an imaginative story, 3 sides
A factual essay eg. history, 2 sides