1) At first, when we are 3 or 4 years old, we go to the Nursery school (“école maternelle”). It’s not an obligation, but a lot of children go to this school.
2) Then, there is the primary school (“école primaire”), from six to 11 years. We are about 20 or 25 pupils per classroom. There are five levels:
* CP for “Cours préparatoire”: We learnt to read, to write and to count.
* CE1 for “Cours Elémentaire de 1er année”
* CE2 for “Cours Elémentaire de 2eme année”
* CM1 for “Cours Moyen de 1ere année”
* CM2 for “Cours Moyen de 2° année”
After all end of years (30 Juny), there is a meeting with the teacher to decide if you can –or not– jump to the next level. If you are too bad, or if you have problem(s), you have to stay still one year in this level.
We have only one teacher per Years (he change at every level’s change)
This part of the schooling is not hard, and all the French pupils have to go to this school. We learnt all and nothing; it is more a preparation for the College. If you are a “normal pupil”, you stay 5 years in this school.
3) After the primary school, there is the College. We have one teacher per matter and one is our “primary teacher”: he (or she) gives us all the information we need. We are about 25 or 30 per classroom. From this school, the level’s name deducts the number of Years from the BAC.
We start at the level 6 and we leave this school at the level Three. That is the names of these levels in French:
* Level 6: “Sixième”
* Level 5: “cinquième”
* Level 4: “quatrième”
* Level 3: “troisième”
All the three month, there is the “Conseil de classe”: all our teacher speaks about us (individually) and the class, and give us (individually) an appreciation:
* “Félicitation” if you work very good
* “encouragements” If you work good
* Nothing if you have some difficulty
* “Avertissement sur le travail” if you don’t work
* “Avertissement sur la conduite” if you are Nasty
At the end of the year, the Conseil decides if you can jump to the next level, and at the end of the level 3, there is an exam: “le Brevet” : If the average of your notes of the levels 4 and 3 is better than 15, you have your Brevet, else, you must have an exam.
After 16 Years old, studies are not an obligation.
4) Then, you can go to a Lycée (Secondary school no?), but there is a lot of type of Lycée.
I am in a “general” Lycée: We do not learn any work (contrary to the “lycée professionels”)
We enter at the level of two (called “seconde”)
At the end of the “seconde”, we have to choose three ways, to prepare three type of BAC:
* The “BAC ES” for “Economique et social”
* The “BAC S” for “Scientifique”
* The “BAC L” for “Littéraire”
After the level one (“première) and the level zero (“terminal”), we have en exam: the BAC.
If we have more than 10, we have the BAC, and we can go to a university school or to a preparatory classroom to go to a high school.
