Month: September 2013

The longest Saturday of the year

The first Saturday September must be the longest Saturday of the year for most French parents. That’s when the “forum des associations” (societies fair) takes place, and you must register to the various activities the children will do outside of school.

So this morning, we went early to the “forum des associations” to have a look around. We already knew what we want to do, so I picked up information for my Breton classes and we did not spend too much time hanging around. But we arrived early and it was already packed. Then, in the afternoon, I went to the music school to confirm the slots chosen for Jean-Baptiste’s Guitar lessons back in June, and choose the best slot for the choir practice. That was awful. I was again early, but there was a lot of waiting and queuing, just to see two teachers for a few seconds.

After a lot of waiting around, I took Maxime to the horse riding club to register him. He’s been wanting to try pony riding for a while now. I’d told him that if he hadn’t changed his mind by the end of the summer, we’d look into it. So he is registered for 10 lessons. I like his independent mind. Some people have tried to persuade him to play football, but he has not bulged and told everyone that pony riding was what he wanted to do.

Back to school

Jean-Baptiste and Maxime went back to school on Tuesday. The first day of school is always interesting. Many parents have taken the day off, or at least have made the effort to be present. You can  feel the tension in the air. Everybody is happy to be there, but they are anxious. I think the parents are often more anxious than the children. People are tanned, smiling. Everyone runs around the courtyard, trying to find the classroom…

There have been works in the school over the summer, and there are 2 new classrooms. They look great. The headmistress has also changed. There’s a new teacher for the little one, the only man on the school staff. The following is an extract from Ouest-France a few days ago:

C’est avec un effectif en hausse, soit 186 élèves, que la rentrée se prépare à l’école du Croissant. La répartition des élèves : 26 en très petite et petite section avec Charles-Edouard Béan ; 30 en moyenne et grande section avec Cathy Morin ; 27 en grande section et CP avec la directrice Élisabeth Déréat ; 26 en CP-CE1 avec Nathalie Plante ; 25 en CE1-CE2 avec Sophie Le Gallic ; 26 en CE2-CM1 avec Nadège Sabouraud ; 26 en CM1-CM2 avec Sonia Le Sauter.

L’équipe enseignante est complétée par 3 Atsem (agent spécialisé des écoles maternelles) : Patricia Pronost, Hélène Le Persan et Sylvie Le Guillou. Une décharge de direction est prévue le jeudi.

It’s a nice school. The children like it, and we are starting to know some people.