ACADEMIC YEAR PROGRAMME

Age:

Boys and girls 12 to 19 years old.

Younger on request

Date: 

• Academic year

August 29^th 2009 – May 29^th 2010
August 28^th 2010 – May 28^th 2011
January 9^th 2010 – December 18^th 2010*
January 8^th 2011 -December 17^th 2011*

*Academic year programme from January to June and from September to December, the summer break it is not included in the programme. We offer with an extra cost different possibilities:

• Semesters:

January 9^th 2010 – June 5^th 2010
August 28^th 2010 – January 29^th 2011
January 8^th 2011 – June 4^th 2011

• Trimesters / Other durations:

Anytime from September to April for 4, 6, 8 and 12 week programmes.

School System in France

In France the school is divided in:

• Primary school (Ecole Primaire) from 6 to 11 years old,

• Middle school (Collège) from 11 to 15 years old (it’s 4 years corresponding to grades 6, 7, 8 and 9),

• Highschool (Lycée) from 16 to 18 years old (it’s 3 years corresponding to grades 10,
  11 and 12).

The middle school curriculum is a general national curriculum and all schools teach the same subjects for the same amount of hours.

Highschool is a bit different. Grade 10 (or Seconde in France) is still a general curriculum with one mandatory optional course giving an first orientation in the studies.

Grade 11 (or Premiere in France) and grade 12 (Terminale in France) are divided in 3 fields:

• L for literature and languages,
• ES for economy and social sciences,
• S for sciences

Of course the main subjects such as French, History, Geography, Maths are taught in all fields but not for the same amount of hours or same objectives.

However the curriculum for each subject taught in each field is a national curriculum set by the French Education Ministry.

In France students graduate from highschool with a Diploma: the Baccalaureat. This exam is taken over the 2 last years of highschool (part in Première, part in Terminale).

On top of the general mandatory subjects, each school offers a variety of optional subjects which can range from various languages to arts or other computer science...

Students in France are given a weekly schedule for the class that they are assigned to and with the exception of optional subjects; students must attend all classes on their schedule.

In France students cannot choose the subjects they want.

All international students on our programmes will be considered as any other French student and therefore must abide by the rules of the school, attend all classes, do all tests and exams.

A report card will be sent at the end of each trimester and includes the student’s grades, results and teacher’s comments.

French school year Calendar

• French school year starts beginning of september and finish mid june.

• Students / parents should be aware that French pupils have several holidays per year and that even if they come for short stays, students will likely have some holidays during their time in France.

• As the calendar varies depending on the area of France, please ask us for holiday dates for specific areas.

• In public and private schools, the Academic Year calendar runs from early September to mid-June.

In France school holidays are as follow:

• 1 week in the fall (October/November),

• 2 weeks at Christmas,

• 2 weeks in winter (February/March),

• 2 weeks in spring (usually April around Easter),

• 2 months in summer (July and August).

The actual calendar varies depending on the area of France.