CHILD CARE FOR CHILDREN UNDER SIX YEARS OLD

It is compulsory for your child to have the following vaccinations and when enrolling, you will need to provide certificates to verify these:

• Tuberculosis (BCG).
• Diphtheria-Tetanus-Polio (DTP).

Primary Education: Education Primaire

Who’s Who?

The headteacher is called le directeur or la directrice.

The teachers are called l'instituteur or l’institutrice, one class teacher teaching all subjects, usually in the same classroom.

L’école Maternelle

For ages two to six, this provides optional education for children, since school is not compulsory until the age of six. Provided by the state, it is free and although it is, in principle, available from two years old, this is only the case if there is space. If there are fewer places than applicants, then older children will be given preference. I found that preference was also given to children of working mothers – remembering that the maternelle is free, whereas the other child-care solutions provided by the municipality are not.

In general, French mothers consider it necessary that their children become used to living in a group with others of the same age. They need to share activities, communal space and learn the rules of collective life. They believe that through contact with adults and other children, their children have the opportunity of developing their language and that school plays an irreplaceable role in children’s discovery of the world and culture, through conversation and play.

Very often, mothers prefer their small toddlers to attend for certain mornings, for example, and not all day and every day. Some mothers only send their children to maternelle in the mornings for their first years since they only spend much of the afternoons in bed anyway, so that it makes no difference if they sleep at home. This often suits la directrice, since otherwise she may not have a place for all the children all day.

How And When To Apply

Apply at your mairie (local town hall) for your certificat d’inscription by June before the September you want your child to start. You will need to show:

• Your livret de famille. If you do not have one, you will need to provide essential information including your child’s birth certificate
• Proof of up-to-date vaccinations supplied by your doctor
• Proof of your address.

 

Then, in order to enrol at the school itself, you need to take:

• Your livret de famille
• Proof of up-to-date vaccinations supplied by your doctor
• The certificat d’inscription issued by the mairie
• A certificate of health and school readiness issued by your doctor.

 

Children who are two at the start of the new school year are accepted if they are sufficiently mature and ‘socialised’. In practice, this means if they are potty trained. If the child turns two before the end of the year and the school has a place, the child may be admitted.

The classes at maternelle are divided into age groups and are called:

Petite Section: 2–3 years

Moyenne Section: 3–5 years

Grande Section: 5–6 years.

École Élémentaire

For children aged six to 11, this is where the beginning of compulsory education takes place.

How And When To Apply

Your child must be enrolled at an école élémentaire by the June prior to the September start of school.

If you are new to the area or if your child did not attend the maternelle, you must apply to the mairie for a certificat d’inscription to your assigned school in the area. You need to take:

• Your livret de famille or birth certificate
• Proof of up-to-date vaccinations
• Proof of your residence in the commune.

 

Then you need to enrol at the school itself. You need to take:

• Your livret de famille or birth certificate
• Proof of up-to-date vaccinations
• The certificat d’inscription issued by the mairie
• A certificate of health and school readiness issued by your doctor.

 

It is not compulsory that your child attends your local, assigned école élémentaire, but specific applications must be made through your mairie if you do choose a ‘non-local’ school. You must request a dérogation (an official exemption) to apply to a school outside your catchment area. Parents can approach schools directly for enrolment (in addition to the mairie) and at some schools it is at the headteacher’s discretion whether entrance for a pupil from another catchment area is allowed.

Classes at écoles élémentaires are divided into age groups and follow a set national curriculum and programme.

In small villages (and some towns where the population is declining) however, when numbers of pupils are low, different age groups are put together in the same class. Despite this mixture of age groups, though, the teacher will nevertheless teach the appropriate programme to the appropriate group.

Cours Préparatoire (known by its abbreviated form CP): 6–7 years

Cours Élémentaire 1 (known as CE1): 7–8 years

Cours Élémentaire 2 (known as CE2): 8–9 years

Cours Moyen 1 (known as CM1): 9–10 years

Cours Moyen 2 (known as CM2): 10–11 years.

Lycée

This is where those aged 15 to 18 follow a general education. Admission depends on the pupil’s school record, usually in the last term of collège.

Only the first year is compulsory for pupils at lycée: discussions at the end of seconde decide future studies.

Over the final two years at lycée, pupils specialise in their chosen areas. The final exams are the Baccalauréat (the ‘bac’).

The year groups are called:

• Seconde: for pupils from 15–16 years
• Prèmiere: 16–17 years
• Terminale: 17–18 years.