Bonjour French Club! I really enjoyed meeting you all during our Skype call 😊
I’m having a fantastic time in France (en France) and I can’t believe that the Christmas holidays (les vacances de NoÑ‘l) are in four weeks’ (quatre semaines) time!
I am also really enjoying life at school. Thursday (le jeudi) is the busiest day (jour) of the week. Therefore, in order to help me prepare for the school day, I thought I would share with you a typical day at St. Nicholas 😊
THE SCHOOL DAY
(La journée scolaire)
School (l’école) starts at 8.45am and ends at 4.55pm. The pupils line up in classes (les classes) and their teacher (le professeur) collects them and takes them to their classroom (la salle de classe).
There are two (deux) classes until break. Break time (la récréation) is at 10.40am.
After break, there are two more lessons (les cours) until lunchtime (le déjeuner) which starts at 12.40pm and ends at 1.55pm.
In the afternoon (l’après-midi), there is another break for an afternoon snack (le goûter). This starts at 3.45pm lasts for 15 minutes (quinze minutes).
At 4.55pm it’s time to go home! Parents (les parents)wait in the playground to collect their children (les enfants).
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SCHOOL IN SCOTLAND AND FRANCE.
When I arrived at St. Nicholas, I noticed many differences (les différences) between school life in France and at home. Here are some of the things that surprised me:
- Pupils don’t wear a uniform (l’uniforme) Children can wear everyday clothes to school
- There are three levels of schooling In Scotland (en Écosse)- there are 2 (deux) stages: Primary school and High school In France (en France) – there are 3 (trois): L’école primaire (Primary school), le collège (Middle school)and le lycée (High school)
- There are no classes on Wednesday (le mercredi) That’s right! In France, there are no classes on Wednesday for Primary schools and only morning classes for those at Middle school and High school. However, they have longer school days during the week to make up the time.
4. Lessons are at different times As you probably will have already noticed, there are three (trois) break times rather than two (deux) in France.
5. Year group names are different In Scotland, it goes P1, P2, P3 and so on… However, in France, it is slightly more complicated! Look at the table below- if you were at school in France, which year group would you be in?
| Scotland | France |
| P1 (5 years old) | Maternelle (nursery– 5 ans) |
| P2 (6 years old) | CP (six ans) |
| P3 (7 years old) | CE1 (sept ans) |
| P4 (8 years old) | CE2 (huit ans) |
| P5 (9 years old) | CM1 (neuf ans) |
| P6 (10 years old) | CM2 (dix ans) |
| P7 (11 years old) | Collège (onze ans) |
Activity 1- Timetable
Here is a copy of my timetable for tomorrow. I have completely forgotten the ages of the children I am supposed to be teaching. Can you tell me, in French, how old the pupils are? (If you need a hand, there is a list of numbers in the table above 😊)
Activity 2- Unjumble the year groups
Can you put the year groups in the right order starting from youngest to oldest?
CE1, CM2, CM1, CP, CE2
Activity 3- Designing a uniform (l’uniforme)
If you could design a uniform for St. Nicholas Primary School, what would it look like? Why not try to write the names of the colours (les couleurs) and clothes (les vêtements) in French (en français) underneath each item?
WHAT HAVE I BEEN UP TO?
Theo and I have visited many places and experienced many events throughout our stay here in France. Here are a few photos showing you what we have been up to. Perhaps (peut-être) you will recognise some of them! 😊
I hope you have enjoyed these activities and I look forward to speaking to you again soon!
À bientôt! (See you soon!)
Charlotte's year abroad 