And since it has always been a real headache for my students to understand the French school system, I thought this was an opportunity to explain it to you and give you the American and English equivalents.
1. La petite section de maternelle ou PS (3 ans) = Nursery.
2. La moyenne section de maternelle ou MS (4 ans) = Pre-K (Reception UK)
3. La grande section de maternelle ou GS (5 ans) = Kindergarden (Year 1 UK)
Translation
Kindergarten: from 3 to 5 years old
Kindergarten is not compulsory in France. Even though children are old enough to be enrolled in kindergarten, the law does not specifically mention the obligation to enroll them in a school. Only instruction is compulsory. Therefore, and even if almost all children in this age group are enrolled in nursery school, parents have the option of resorting to home education for their children. But from the start of the 2021 school year, the government no longer intends to authorize it except for very specific reasons, and in particular medical reasons. So home education is going to be very limited. I'll tell you about it after.
To enroll your child in kindergarten in France, you have to start with the administrative procedures at the town hall and then at school. On average, you can only register your children from the age of 3, sometimes 2 if, like my daughter, your child is at the end of the year.
And what are the different kindergarten classes called and what are their equivalents?
1.La petite section de maternelle ou PS (3 ans) = Nursery.
2.La moyenne section de maternelle ou MS (4 ans) = Pre-K (Reception UK)
3.La grande section de maternelle ou GS (5 ans) = Kindergarden (Year 1 UK)
It is very often for these children that the word "schoolboy" is used. Pay attention to the vocabulary for school teachers. Indeed, at this age they are called “master” and “mistress”. But the latter also means "lover" so pay attention to the context when you use this word. After the age of 10, we will still speak of a teacher and no longer of "teacher or mistress".
In short, as I told you, from the age of 6, children have the obligation to go to school! And that, since June 16, 1881 when Jules Ferry made it officially compulsory and free for all primary school.
And it is at the end of the third that the college students pass the "patent". It's not much use, let's be honest! But it is a rite of passage that every student will have to go through. And then if they later wish to take certain competitive examinations for the public service, they must have obtained the "college certificate".
Then they enter high school and therefore become high school students. Between the ages of 15 and 18.
School is compulsory until the age of 16. But they may very well decide after college to go for vocational training.
When registering for high school, they will have to choose which branch to go to and which diploma interests them.
Some prepare for a very specific profession (hairdresser, cook, mechanic…) and in this case they will go to a BEP or CAP.
BEP = Professional studies certificate
CAP = Professional aptitude certificate
Or they can choose to go to more general studies, namely the bac. The bac or baccalaureate is the state diploma obtained at the end of high school, namely at the age of 18. This diploma is necessary to obtain a general higher education diploma (license, etc.).
If they choose to take the bac, they will have to choose a specialty (Scientific, literary, economic ...). A real headache for young people today. There are many ! And I will talk to you with pleasure in a future article if you are interested.
And finally, it's time to get into higher education!
After graduating from the baccalaureate, young people who go on to higher education are now called "students". And they will now enter a prepa / college / faculty / university or high school ...
Depending on their ambitions, they will have the choice!
The university system in France is completely different from that of the Americans and many other countries elsewhere. Very soon and if you are interested, I will write you another article on higher education in France.
Home schooling is very special, there are a lot of steps to be taken and it is strictly controlled! The government wants to make sure your child gets the education they need. It was already complicated and very rare for French families to go through home schooling (child with a disability or child of parents who travel a lot ...), it might be even more so.
Indeed, on October 2, 2020, the President of the Republic announced that, from the start of the 2021 school year, the possibility of receiving home education would be strictly limited. In times of health crisis, it makes more sense to restrict home schooling, that's understandable hahahaha!
No, more seriously, we don't know how it will be limited yet, but it's a new project.
