School+Life+in+France

 In France, children must attend school from the ages of 6-16 but most begin their school life in a state nursery school at just 3 years old and stay in education until they reach 18.

From 6-11 years of age, French children attend primary school just 4 days a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. They have a day off on Wednesdays and no longer have to go to school on Saturday mornings like in the past, so their week-ends are free too! However, the French primary school day is extremely long; it oftens begins at 8:30 in the morning and lessons don't finish until either 5:00 or 5:30 in the late afternoon!

Much of the school day is spent on reading, spelling, grammar and maths and pupils are given a lot of homework to do in the evening too!

Pupils keep their books at home and take what they need to school each day so it's important for French children to be organised from a very young age. Parents have to buy all the equipment their children need including exercise books, notepads, ring-binders, pens, pencils, rulers, rubbers, calculators, mini dry-wipe boards etc. A French pupil's school bag can be very heavy indeed; some children even use small wheeled suitcases to transport their belongings to school!

Every summer, the shops are full of stationery for the new school year or 'la rentrée' as it is called in French and parents are given a [|long list of what to buy for their children.] It can be a very expensive time for parents, especially if they have more than one child of school age. One thing parents do NOT have to buy, however, is a school uniform. As you will see in the photograph above, children in France are allowed to wear their own clothes to school. Would you like to wear your own clothes to school or do you prefer a uniform?

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You might like to listen to this enhanced podcast entitled 'La Rentrée' from the Sunderland MFL team.

In it, you will find out about the French education system for pupils of all different ages; about the length of the primary school day; the primary school curiculum; and about just how heavy those school bags can be for very young children!

 Would you prefer to be educated in France or in Britain? Why?

Lunch time lasts for two whole hours, during which time children either go home for lunch or eat a meal in the school canteen. French children do not have the choice of bringing a packed lunch. Carefully planned, healthy menus are served in proper porcelain plates and dishes unlike the plastic trays that most British children are accustomed to.

Young children usually wear a napkin around their neck; many are made of linen and embroidered with each child's initials.







Parents are often asked to provide a toothbrush, toothpaste and beaker clearly labelled with their child's name so that they can clean their teeth after eating. 

<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">You might like to spend five minutes watching this news report about France's gourmet school dinners broadcast by American channel CBS on the 26th September 2010... media type="custom" key="7190649"

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Now take a look at this selection of Youtube videos, which will give you a glimpse of the daily routine in a French primary school...

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<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">You can find more information about the education system in France by visiting the websites below...

<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">[|Pilote] <span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Read about [|the life of a child in France]