quirky

Hi,

does anyone know if French schools have an equivalent board like Ofsted where we can view the standard of schools?
Our LO will be starting school next year but I'm not sure how to go about finding a good school.
Can anyone help?
Thanks

loy loy

I don't think there is. We put our girls in the school in the village and I think that's mainly what people do, use the local school.

dennerlymum

Indeed; schools/teachers are simply inspected by the local education board; rectorat, but results are not published; teaching friends here looked horrified when I told them of this in the uk

elice_in_oz

There is hardly any competition between schools in France as they all follow the same curriculum throughout the country and there are almost no private schools to talk of. Schools get their teachers assigned by a centralised administration and the main criterion, AFAIK, is the availability of teachers in the area. That usually means that a rough neighbourhood won't have a lot of teachers putting their hands up to go and work there and so young newly qualified teachers will be sent there. More senior ones get to pick the locality they want to work in. It is a pretty uniform system with no ridiculous league tables and crazy entrance exams for primary schools and stuff. All that starts at university

Ka Ora!

The private system is getting a major leg up with every politician here using the poor state education system as a voting booth enhancement. Our local ecole Sacré Cœur has a reasonable waiting list and the improvements in our children since they started attending it are excellent. The local College "Secondary School"here has a wonderful reputation for releasing un'achievers that are qualified in smoking any herb that is green and dries before lunch time. State primary education is better than the Secondary that I have personally witnessed but each area in France is very secular so do a lot of homework in advance.

As to the Op's original question the only way to judge a school is by varied local opinion and what effect it has on your children. Try and find educated parents ones that have degrees and sensible qualifications in France as in the UK these opinions will differ slightly.

Peabrain

It isn't quite true to say that there are "almost no private schools in France," unless what you mean are schools that survive with no state aid whatsoever. Schools of this sort do exist and should be avoided with the proverbial barge pole as they are often institutions of last resort
Otherwise, since la loi Debré way back in the early 60s the French state has been funding "les établissements sous contrat avec l'État". This means that fee-paying schools that sign a contract with the state can employ regular teachers whose salaries are paid by the government. Thus most teaching staff in such schools are civil servants or assimilated. Their salary scales are the same as in a proper state school and the evolution of their careers is too, as are their pensions. The major difference between such schools and regular state schools is that the school itself gets to choose its staff and .... its pupils, which is not the case in state schools, where the rectorat or the ministry appoints staff.
The "carte scolaire" or catchment area for schools was abolished in 2008; this means that, although a child is still supposed to go to the school that serves his area, parents can apply for a dispense if they want their child to go to a different school. Such "dérogations" are granted as long as there is enough room in the school being applied to. Thus it is not quite true either to say that there is no competition between French schools. Fake addresses are used to guarantee a place in the better schools. If you take Versailles, everyone wants their kids to go to the Lycée Hoche. If you live on the wrong side of the town, you can't, so either you get a dispense, or you rent a flat in the right area.
You may also find that in some more religious areas, such as Brittany, local Catholic schools are the general rule, and some state schools struggle to fill their places.
The best thing to do is ask any neighbours whose kids are in school, to see what they think.
Good luck.

elice_in_oz

Thanks for the clarification. I must admit that in my hometown of 50,000 souls, the only privakte schools were a couple of catholic primaries and collèges and so I went by that. It is very true that in the larger cities, there are more private schools and some state are better than others. Even more so in Paris. Are private school fees still pretty low compared to say the UK?

dennerlymum

pretty low!!! they are amazing! Our son is in a private college and his food costs more than his fees each month! I estimate it casts around a quarter of the fees at an English Prep school and even less than a private secondary

quirky

Thanks everyone,

I will start chatting to the local parents, it seems the first step anyway.

Thanks again