Behaviour at school

[gabrielle13]

Hi, I am new on this site.

I am a French mother and I am moving to England (in the surroundings of Windsor) in June.

My son, Luc, who is 7 years old, will be attending an English state school.

He knows a few words of English and will have to manage at school...

I am trying to do my best to prepare him for this huge change and would like to

know how English pupils behave in an English classroom (as I have heard it is

so much different in the French system..).

He will be in year 3.

Could you tell me how the children call their "teacher" (by her name, Madam or Maitresse) ? Do they have to put

their fingers up to be allowed to speak? Are they allowed to go to the "loo"

during classes? How many activities are they allowed to choose after school?

Is it compulsory to choose an activity or can they leave school at 3:30?

Do all schools propose football as an activity?

That kind of questions which may seem stupid but would help me answer

all the questions of my little boy and make him feel less anxious...

Thanks

[Emmeline II]

Have you checked if his new school has a website?

You can post on this board as well UK and may find more help there.

[gabrielle13]

Hi Emmeline,

Actually no, we have not chosen the school yet. We just know that we won't be putting him in a French school.

I will follow your recommendation and put my post on the UK field.

Thanks

[rubyhatespets]

Hi,

I think the best thing would be to ask to go and look around any schools you are thinking of in order to get a feel for the school.  If you want to find out about individual schools then look at the [url=http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Inspection-reports]OFSTED[/url] website as it publishes the inspection reports on individual schools.

Pupils will generally be expected to put their hands up to speak in a whole class situation, but not necessarily and mostly at that age they would be taught in groups rather than as a whole class.  They are allowed to go to the loo, but will most likely be encouraged to go at break or at lunchtime.  Most schools offer after-school activities but there is usually a charge for these.  The actual activities vary but almost all schools offer a football club.  After-school activities are not compulsory and most children don't do them.

In my experience, the main differences are that British schools generally have a school uniform and there are different hours - no Saturday mornings.  The food may be an issue too - British schools offer nutritionally balanced midday meals (thanks Jamie Oliver) but they are not like French school meals and a lot of children (50% or more) will bring their own lunch from home.  VERY generally, French education is more traditional, didactic and concerned more with the transmission of information BUT obviously there are fewer and fewer differences as time goes on.

Hope that helps.x

[sapphire_chan]

I'd also contact the school and find out if there's a time before the school year starts where you can both come in and meet his teacher and tour the school and so forth. (

Note: I have absolutely no idea if that's possible in the schools you'll be looking at.