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06/05/2008, 8:16 Cat Joined on 21/01/2005 ------- Forum Moderator ------- Lot Posts 2,788 Re: Do your kids enjoy school? A surfing bac, really?  I wonder who dreamt that one up, not much use to the majority of kids looking for employment later, but a good way to keep them in education a bit longer I suppose.  Was that specific to your area Ginger? Cathy Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...    Report

06/05/2008, 20:51 Ginger Joined on 04/05/2008 Posts 11 Re: Do your kids enjoy school? I read about it in the papers. It's specific to Bordeaux/Atlantic area. Goodness only knows what good it does you in the future unless you want to teach surfing. It gets more like the UK every day!    Report

06/05/2008, 20:52 Ginger Joined on 04/05/2008 Posts 11 Re: Do your kids enjoy school?  Russethouse wrote: Are your children of bac age, Ginger ? No, they have a couple of years to go yet.    Report

06/05/2008, 21:59 J.R's gone native Joined on 16/07/2006 Picardie, Sussex Posts 1,695 Re: Do your kids enjoy school? Surfing the net perhaps? Plenty of people get paid a living (I cant say earn) doing just that judging by some of the employed(?) contributors on this and other forums    Report

08/05/2008, 21:48 Ginger Joined on 04/05/2008 Posts 11 Re: Do your kids enjoy school? Not sure I understood your post JR    Report

10/05/2008, 1:38 Stefan Joined on 23/08/2004 Posts 150 Re: Do your kids enjoy school? Catherine To answer your question  - "Do your kids enjoy school?", and ignoring arguements about which system is best, we moved to France 6 years ago and after a year of rental settled in the Ariege.  Initially they were in the local village school.  The standard of education in village schools is sound, the head teacher was excellent, but there are no "bells and whistles", they get a solid basic education that anyone going through the UK system in the 60's and early 70's would recognise.  The eldest got advanced a year and they are now in school/college in the local town, enjoy school, and have never expressed a desire to return to the UK.... I hope this helps.          Report

10/05/2008, 7:57 Frenchie Joined on 31/05/2007 2 Sèvres,79 Posts 3,554 Re: Do your kids enjoy school? Wel , well; I read this thread with interest since I am French and I am a teacher, and the only thing  I'd like to say is " beware of generalizations"..  In either way.. I agree that art and theatre etc, should be more present in French schools, but many schools , even in rural areas, offer creative options to children. I teach in a high school, we have a theatre club, dance clubs, etc.. All foreign teenagers are offered French classes, I know, I have one student from Chile, one from Afghanistan, and they have really improved their French thanks to it. I'm sorry but French learning is not all about regurgitating !!!!! We value reflexion, analysis, expression of personal opinion, in many topics!!!!!! I m thinking of philosophy, history, geography, languages, French... No rose tinted specs here, I know the system has its faults, but I am a bit fed up with the " all pessimistic view "  ... I teach in BTS NRC ( Negociation/ Relation Client)  and most of my students immediately get a job after they ve graduated. I must add that, even if I live in a medium sized town , I live in a rural department, and many of our students come from rural villages.     Happy    Report

10/05/2008, 16:46 Ginger Joined on 04/05/2008 Posts 11 Re: Do your kids enjoy school?  Frenchie wrote: I agree that art and theatre etc, should be more present in French schools, but many schools , even in rural areas, offer creative options to children. I teach in a high school, we have a theatre club, dance clubs, etc.. All foreign teenagers are offered French classes, I know, I have one student from Chile, one from Afghanistan, and they have really improved their French thanks to it. I'm sorry but French learning is not all about regurgitating !!!!! We value reflexion, analysis, expression of personal opinion, in many topics!!!!!! I m thinking of philosophy, history, geography, languages, French... Frenchie this just shows how much departmental variation there is. Our local school and college have no extra curricular activities at all. No theatre groups, art groups, dance groups, nada. Our local primary school offers no help whatsoever to non-French children. There are no extra lessons, no one to one lessons, they just have to sink or swim. Why do they offer them to teenagers and not to primary age children? I've yet to see any of my children be asked to have an opinion on anything (they are in 4eme, 5eme and CM2). In fact, as we are considering returning tothe UK when my husband's current contract ends they have been doing UK 11+ /key stage assessment papers which has shown how behind they are despite two of them being a year above what they would be in the UK and how the teaching here differs.Anything that required them to think a bit laterally, to be a bit creative, to look a bit more behind the words on the page and they couldn't do it. It's been a real eye-opener. I totally disagree, based on the education my children have had, that they have to do much more (in primary and college at least - we haven't got to lycee) than repeat back facts and figures. I really wonder how well this will prepare them for later life in a global workplace. Just my opinion and not one, of course, that everyone will agree with.    Report

11/05/2008, 18:01 JSA Aude Joined on 30/06/2005 Posts 184 Re: Do your kids enjoy school? I am English, 15 and have been living in France for 6 years and I keep in contact with my friends in England so I know quite a bit about the differences between the systems . I have to say that the French have a better system based on the fact that in France I can take more types of lessons than in England, I study Latin, Spanish, Civique Education and Greek but none of my friends in England could choose to do them. I also have multiple friends in French Lycees and the number of different paths and options you can take is astounding for example my neighbour does Economics and Social studies whilst another ''less educational friend'' does agricultural studies and they are both 16.    Report

11/05/2008, 18:07 JSA Aude Joined on 30/06/2005 Posts 184 Re: Do your kids enjoy school? Am really proud of him , he looked at the post and decided something positive - well done my 'little 6' plus' young man.  Just goes to show it can't be all bad, despite what he tells me from college!!  Approves of all the 'faire le pont' and greves!!!  No, he is not a boffin - far from it!!!!!!!    Report

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