foxychickjo

Hi, would anyone be able to help? I have a house in the Mussidan area that I would like to move into on a full time basis. My 7 year old son however is very reluctant to attend a French school.

Does anyone know what the schools in this area or the Riberac area are like or know of any International/English boarding schools in Fracne? The closer to home would obviously be better.

Thanks in advance.

cathy22w

Probably the best thing you could do for him at that age would be to put him in a French school. Kids are very resilient.

Roger O

I agree, but if there's no alternative, probably this is your nearest school:
http://france.english-schools.org/bo...nal-school.htm

dmu

Hi,
according to the Bordeaux site, the children are boarded with French families.

Your son is reluctant to go to a French school. How would he feel about living evenings in a French environment all week without you?
I agree with cathy22w - he'll soon fit in your local Primaire and can bring his new friends home to play and be invited back. If he boarded out in the week, he'd find it difficult to make friends locally....

L'Acajou

Our eldest was 7 when we moved over almost six years ago, I can honestly say sending her and her three younger brothers to the local school was the best choice. They settle amazingly quickly and you get to meet other parents and villagers, essential for integration. I soon came to realise that not only had we done ourselves a big favour moving over here, but even more so for our children.
Good luck!
Sue

dennerlymum

my youngest was also around 7/8 when we moved to france. He was very nervous at first but settled very quickly and is happier here than he has been anywhere

I think the boarding school could be a difficult optiion especially if boarded with french families; school is one thing but relaxation time is difficult in another language and far from home

Ka Ora!

I would suggest just sticking with a French School, If your sticking him in a boarding school why not leave him in one in England. A child is for life not just Christmas and the Summer Holidays

Tweedpipe

If you plan on living here, a French school makes a great deal of sense.

After a number of years in the French education system, on reaching twelve, I started making inquiries for our son and initial arrangements for an English boarding school - in order to give him what I thought would be the best possible education - this seemed to make extra sense too as the fees were largely company assisted.
Discussing this with Mme led to some infernal rows - in fact she wouldn't entertain the thought of such an idea. Needless to say my French vocabulary definitely increased around that time - especially hearing such profane French!

She stuck to her principles, and I lost the battle - although that really turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Bless her.
Result, we stayed wonderfully united during his most important teen years. Then went on to the Toulouse International Lycee, did ok for a few years but lost face with the threat of 'redoublage'. Changed over to a private French school as a weekly border, and flew through the baccalaureate.
Although he deeply loved France and it's culture, interestingly enough he could see nationally the general unrest by so many French university students (this being the mid 90's), and decided a French university was not for him. Long story short, went on to study in Canada, and never looked back.
The moral of the story? Never argue with a French partner, especially when she's right and can out-swear you........

foxychickjo

Guys, dear all, thanks very much for your replies. I appreciate that he is for life and not just Christmas!!!

I only thought of the boarding school option so he could go to an English school as opposed to a French one. He will be going to France with me and his step father as I don't want to leave him with his father and his new family. Not because of anything sinister but because I am his mum and I want him with me! He is also an only child and I know that going to a French school would be the best thing for him and his language abilities but how do I get over the devastation that it wil cause when he comes home every night crying?

This site is great and I really appreciate all your comments as you have been there and done it! It would mean leaving my husband in England at work too so I would be a bit of a home alone parent. Our commune is very small and full of the older generation and Mussidan is the nearest large town along with Montpon and Riberac.

DandNHill

I cried every evening for at least ... a week, and then the school started to become familiar, as did the children. I remember sitting in the classroom for the first few days copying anything the teacher wrote on the blackboard but otherwise not having a clue what was going on!!
It took me a fair while to learn to speak French fluently but I have no regrets and am so glad my parents took us to live in France.

You are doing this at a time when the English are accepted and there are lots of them in France so it's not an alien concept! When we went there, in 1976, we were on the front page of the newspaper it was such a novelty!!

Your little boy will adapt very quickly and within no time you'll wonder what the fuss was all about!!!

A suggestion however based on my experience. It wasn't the actual language that caused a problem to me, after the first few months, but the total lack of knowledge of French geography, history and the concept of grammar etc that confused me so whatever you can teach him before hand will help him settle

Sarah Burnet

I have just read your thread. I am also hoping to move to France, nea Toulouse, in July (my husband will commute to the UK on a weekly basis) and I am looking for advice on schools. i have 2 children who will be 10 and 7 in the summer but I am thinking about putting them into the local school and hoping that they will be fine!! They dont speak French which does worry me. I think the only boarding schools are the International schools which appear to be in Toulouse, Bordeaux, Paris and Nice - according to all my research but I could be wrong! Good luck - I would love to hear what you do about schools.

Thanks

Sarah

dennerlymum

one more post and I can mail you!

Sarah Burnet

i am so new at this that I don't really know how it works and not very good at sending messages - i will see if this works!

Ka Ora!

If you look in the top right corner "private messages" Dm will send you one with more info about Toulouse.

dennerlymum

sent one just now with lots of info: though Ka Ora is your man if you want to be futher our in the boondicks!!