Franglais Kids

Hi Valerie - have just seen that you are considering the Dordogen because of direct flights from Bergerac and Bx to Gatwick.If that is one of you criteria - have a look in the Charente Maritime - all the plus points of the Dordogne with the addition of the coast. We have just bought a house here and have moved the kids from Bordeaux. It is just wonderful here. How old is your son?

Thanks Wendy. I will be yelling for all the help I can get once everything is racing forward. Now I just need to find out what he will be learning at school.

@ Valerie I hope all goes according to plan and if you need me, just drop me a message. I’m sure he will soon be correcting your French!

(How did you do that @ thing, that’s clever). Thank you Wendy. We will be house hunting hopefully in 3 - 4 months as soon as my property is properly sold (I daren’t look earlier in case I’m gazumped and I lose the house of our dreams). I keep gravitating towards the Dordogne area for some reason, probably because both Bordeaux and Bergerac have direct flights to Gatwick and my mum. Anyway, I will get Shaun a tutor here in Malta to prep him before we leave, and then will need additional help for him once we arrive. He knows how to say Je m’appelle, bonjour, chien and chat. That’s it. Even worse than me, but I should imagine within 6 months he’ll leave me standing. It’s those initial weeks/months he will need extra help though until he feels more confident and can follow what the teacher is saying in class.

@ Valerie, would you like me to try and find a French teacher for Shaun…let me know by pm where you’re going to be living and any other special requirements. I assume he’s a beginner!

Hello folks

I’m trying to prepare my 6 year old for school when we move later this year (whether I will meet the June registration deadline is highly debatable but I’m hoping the Mairie will register him even if it turns out to be August or September). Anyway, please can you let me know what Shaun would actually be learning when he starts? He’ll be fast approaching age 7 but because of his lack of French I should imagine they may keep him down in Year 2 until he catches up. If I know in advance the type of subjects/reading/writing levels he will be faced with, I can ask the French tutor (when I find one) to perhaps concentrate on those areas to help him feel a little more confident when he gets there. As for me, I’ll be flummoxing around speaking ridiculously broken school French while rolling around on some real grass (they don’t have proper grass in Malta).

Any advice very much appreciated.

Thank you.

Hi Grace,

Just by asking around town people are usually pretty forthcoming about what are the good schools and what are the “lycees poubelles” (their words, not mine).

There are also some very well-known schools that everyone knows. Hoche, Pasteur…

Here is a site that may be useful. You can search by city. They give the Bac success rates. Hope this helps.

http://www.linternaute.com/actualite/education/palmares-lycees/

I’m not sure about finding a ‘good’ lycee, my son chose the same one as most of his friends, but I do know they are well supervised when they board. I like that the people that look after them are quite young and organize activities for them in the evenings (bbq’s, concerts, films etc) and there is a compulsory hour of study time after dinner. My son loves it and I see it as good prep for going to uni, as they’re already a little bit independent.

how do I find out what would be a good Lycee for my son to go to? Is there a website? He especailly likes maths & science. Are they supervised at night if they board?

Really sorry to hear this story. It’s too awful for you, Kerry. I do, however, have to agree with the other comments about figures in authority not intervening in children’s play. As far as I can make out, it’s because the children have to behave so well in class, church, restaurants, etc and so are allowed to let off steam in the playground.

We had problems with our son being picked on in the playground at school when we first arrived. He was 4 and kicked in the goolies several times by another 4 year old. Deviant or what? I had repeatedly told my son never to hit anyone. When I asked what he did when kicked, he replied “I was brave Mummy, I didn’t cry!” I nearly did. But finally after everyone (my husband, my best and very sane French friend, the teachers, even the doctor) told me “il faut se defendre,” I told him to hit back (NEVER FIRST). Now he plays at play time and there doesn’t seem to be a problem. What I am trying to say is, make sure your children know how to defend themselves in case you aren’t there but don’t lose heart, this is a very extreme instance and isn’t the norm.

Hello Kerry, I have just read about your problem…You MUST go and file a complaint with the Gendarmarie…If I have understood correctly this did not happen at school but in your local playground? You should also take pictures of your children. Do you know WHO did this to your children? Maybe there is a record of previous attacks. This violence is just senseless.

Obama 's speech about bullying. Good luck Kerry. In my opinion this is totally unacceptable.

Kerry - I’m totally with you on this. Physical violence is taken very seriously - a game called ‘the tomato game’ (strangling each other till you go red!) had a couple of fatalities a couple of years ago and there’s been a real clampdown in playgrounds on physically violent ‘games’ - so you should have support from somewhere. I’d be at a loss as to where to go over it though… surely the gendarmes would be a good place to find out. If you want, I could round up a posse and come over and do them in for you??! :slight_smile:
Seriously, though, my thoughts are with you. Little s*^&ts!

Kerry,

I concur with Jade and suggest that you take this further. You may get nowhere, but you will at least have raised awareness. Good luck, you have our support.

James

Well if I were you I wouldn’t let that go Kerry, that’s disgusting! We have a right to live here and just letting it go gives the idea it’s acceptable to treat foreigners with no respect. I would see the mayor.

Oh my! Now that is NOT OK. I cannot imagine any place I have lived in France where that would be considered acceptable. That is beyond bizutage and into another realm. Yep, I think bringing in the cops is entirely appropriate.

Gosh Kerry, that’s awful I’ve never heard of anything so horrible. Can you see your Maire about them? What did the police say?

So sorry for you Kerry xx

That’s horrific Kerry. I really feel for you. I’d be going beserk. The parents need sorting out. xx

@Gillian, i am in Fontainebleau 77800