Primary School in France
Let us introduce you the school system in France. Here, children attend primary school from the year in which they reach the age of 6 years old (yet it is possible to enrol a younger child with some conditions).
The division of courses is done in 24 hours over 4 or 4.5 days a week (as determined by the school). Schools do rather choose 4 days, leaving Wednesday free. Since 2008, school on a Saturday morning has been abolished.
The basic class structure is divided in 5 classes : CP (6-7 years old), CE1 (7-8 years old), CE2 (8-9 years old), CM1 (9-10 years old), CM2 (10-11 years old).
For the enrolment, children are expected to attend school with their geographical catchment area.
If parents want to send their child to a school outside their area, they can, if there are valid reasons, but the approval of the mayor is required.
Reasons for which you can send you child to another area are in most cases those ones :
The parents are employed or in business, and either there is no lunch canteen, or there is no after school care facilities, and it makes it difficult to take the child back from school;
In the opinion of the school doctor, the health needs of the child require frequent treatment, which can only be obtained in another commune;
The brother or sister of the child is already enrolled in a neighbouring school.
The process of enrolment is normally carried out through the local mairie and then to the school itself. You are not expected to enrol each year, the re-registration is automatic.
On initial registration some documents will be required, inculding the child’s birth certificate, vaccination certificate (diphtheria-tetanus-polio is obligatory), and medical report from a French doctor, evidence of residence (electricity, telephone bills). You should also bring the child’s passport and former school records.
Then, the mairie will provide you with a registration certificate that you should present to the school, together with the documents already presented to the mairie.
We hope that those informations might help you !
Obviously, we welcome you to help you during our trainings.
Our website (french version) : www.absolutely-french.eu/
Our website (english version) : https://www.learn-french-in-paris.fr/
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